Nextel Workers Claim Job Bias in Lawsuits

About 300 employees of Nextel Communications Inc. plan to file complaints of racial and sexual discrimination against the wireless telephone company, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs.

The minority employees alleged that they were mistreated, denied promotions and paid less than their white co-workers due to their race, gender or religious beliefs.

Reston, Va.-based Nextel told Reuters it was ``prepared to right any wrongs that may have occurred in our workplace'' but it has not received copies of the complaints.

More than 300 Nextel current and former employees plan to file their complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and ask the agency's permission to file lawsuits against the company in federal court under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the plaintiffs' lawyers said.

The allegations against Nextel come of the heels of job discrimination complaints against other U.S. corporate giants, including Coca-Cola Co. The softdrink maker last week was hit with a new $1.5 billion racial bias suit on the day it announced a tentative settlement of a 14-month racial discrimination lawsuit with black workers for an undisclosed sum.

Nextel said it repeatedly expressed its willingness to discuss the allegations with the plaintiffs' law firm Leeds Morelli & Brown, according to Reuters.

``These tactics are a direct result of Nextel's refusal to pay the outrageous legal fees demanded by Leeds Morelli & Brown to resolve claims, meritorious or not, in a non-public forum,'' Nextel said in a prepared statement. ``Nextel does not regard capitulation to exorbitant fee demands as a condition for learning the details of all but a few claims and as a condition to avoiding publicity,'' the company said.

Jeffrey Brown, a partner at Leeds Morelli & Brown, said the firm seeks ``a financial settlement to compensate all of my clients for their emotional and physical anguish, as well as the disparities in pay and advancement and their subjection to a hostile and intimidating environment.''