On February 14, 2002, five named plaintiffs representing a class of hourly African-American and Hispanic Cleveland Works employees of ALCOA, Inc. , filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of all persons of African or Hispanic descent employed in hourly bargaining unit positions by ALCOA, Inc. in its Cleveland Works Facility at any time from February 14, 1996 to January 15, 2003.

The case involved allegations that ALCOA's system of selecting apprentices at ALCOA'S Cleveland Works Facility discriminated on account of race and national origin. On February 12, 2003 the parties reached a settlement, which counsel for plaintiffs believe is innovative and far-reaching, and which resolves all the claims in the case.

The Court granted final approval to the settlement on August 25, 2003 in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Ohio. Plaintiffs' counsel & ALCOA are now working with a jointly selected industrial psychologist to develop a state of the art apprenticeship selection process that will dramatically expand skilled trade opportunities for African-Americans and Hispanics at ALCOA's Cleveland Works Facility.

Among the changes resulting from the settlement are:

• the revamping of the existing testing process to select skilled trade apprentices at Cleveland Works. A new process will be created and implemented by an outside expert, designed to be fair and equitable for everyone.
  
  
• a special, one-time electrical apprenticeship class of ten people selected by ALCOA from the class of African-American and Hispanic employees at Cleveland Works.
  
  
• the establishment a $500,000 Educational Foundation to benefit the Black and Hispanic communities in Cleveland.
  
  
• monetary relief of $10,000 in compensatory damages to each class member who took the apprenticeship selection test since February 14, 1996, and did not enter an apprenticeship program ("Test Takers").