By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT — The city will pay $1 million to four women who applied to be bridge painters but were turned away because of discriminatory hiring practices, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney said Thursday.
In May, a federal judge ruled that the Department of Transportation engaged in "unvarnished sex discrimination" by refusing to hire the women as bridge painters and claimed the agency violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
"The relevant decision makers at DOT always chose a man for a position when a more qualified female candidate was available," U.S. District Judge William Pauley wrote in a bench trial ruling, in favor of the U.S. Attorney's lawsuit against the city.
Prosecutors said one of the women, Efrosini Katanakis, began working as a bridge painter on Sept. 7 as a result of the litigation.
"This month, for the first time in New York City history, a woman reported for work as a bridge painter," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
A spokesperson for the city's Law Department said Katanakis was hired prior to the settlement and that the department is "committed to fair hiring practices."
"We believe the settlement is in the best interest of all parties," the spokesperson added.
The sum will be divided among the women, who will each get $250,000.
