04:52 AM EDT, 06/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with statement from Snap beginning in the penultimate paragraph.)

Snap (SNAP) has agreed to pay $15 million to settle claims of sexual harassment against it by female employees, the California Civil Rights Department said Wednesday.

According to the department, an investigation found that Snap failed to treat female employees fairly between 2014 and 2024.

The Snapchat parent allegedly failed to ensure women were paid or promoted equally. "Instead, women encountered a glass ceiling and were told to wait their turn, were actively discouraged from applying for promotions, or lost promotion opportunities to less qualified male colleagues," the department said in a statement.

Women also "suffered unwelcome sexual advances and other harassing conduct," the statement said.

The agreement is subject to court approval, the department said. It added that $14.5 million will be used to compensate workers, and the company will be required to hire an independent consultant to evaluate Snap's promotion and compensation policies. It will also hire a third-party monitor to audit its sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination compliance and ensure all employees receive training to prevent those issues.

In a statement to MT Newswires, Snap said it does not believe it has "any ongoing systemic pay equity, discrimination, harassment, or retaliation issues against women."

"While we disagreed with the California Civil Rights Department's claims and analyses, we took into consideration the cost and impact of lengthy litigation, and the scope of the CRD's other settlements, and decided it is in the best interest of the company to resolve these claims and focus on the future," the company said.

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