PricewaterhouseCoopers has agreed to pay $11.625 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the global accounting firm discriminated against older applicants for certain positions.

The deal, outlined in court papers filed Tuesday evening, would require the global accounting firm to commit to a hiring program that would allow candidates age 40 or older to apply for entry-level positions. The programmatic relief, that the firm would be required to maintain for at least two years under the deal, includes hiring a consultant to advise on inclusivity and age bias in the hiring and training process, advertising positions to older workers, and to avoid asking graduation date information of applicants who have graduated from college before making a job offer. The settlement also requires the company to make "public and internal statements" expressing its commitment to diverse hiring, including using age-diverse photos in its recruiting materials.

PwC's chief purpose and inclusion officer, Shannon Schuyler, who is charged with working with the outside consultant under the settlement, said in an emailed statement that the firm "is proud to affirm its commitment to identify and hire older workers." 

"The commitments in this settlement will help PwC remain one of the most sought-after employers in the country," Schuyler said. "Our workforce represents the diversity of perspective, life experiences and backgrounds, and welcomes talented workers across the age spectrum."

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California last year conditionally certified a collective action in the case, which accused PwC of systematically discriminating against older applicants for associate, experienced associate or senior associate positions in the firm's tax or assurance practices. The proposed settlement includes about 5,000 applicants who weren't hired by PwC.

Plaintiffs lawyers at Outten & Golden, AARP Foundation Litigation and Liu Law Firm indicated in the settlement papers filed Tuesday that they intend to request a 35% fee, or $4,068,750, which they say is considerably lower than the $6,488,000 in lawyer time they've put into the "hotly contested" litigation. The plaintiffs lawyers claim that once the programmatic relief is factored in on top of the monetary relief, a "more realistic assessment" of the settlement value is $16,625,000, which would put the fee request at 24.5% of that amount.

"We and AARP Foundation believe strongly that age discrimination in hiring, in particular, is a significant problem today and limits older workers access to jobs and contributes to unemployment problems," said Outten & Golden's Jahan Sagafi. "It also limits employers access to talent because wherever you have a company discriminating they are shooting themselves in the foot by limiting the pool of talent they can draw from," he said.