Walgreen Denies Promotions Based on Race, U.S. Says (Update4)

By Cary O'Reilly

March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore retailer, was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over claims the company assigned black managers and denied them promotions based on race.

The retailer, based in Deerfield, Illinois, used race as a reason to send managers, management trainees and pharmacists to low-performing stores and to stores in black communities, the agency claimed in a statement. Walgreen also denied employees promotion opportunities in violation of U.S. law, the EEOC said.

``It is quite serious,'' said Andrea Baran, a senior trial attorney for the EEOC, in an interview. ``We received charges from around 20 individuals in the Kansas City-St. Louis area,'' as well as Florida, Detroit and other regions, she said. ``All of the evidence supported these people's claims.''

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=&sid=acaFL4hDOOLg

-Jim