Below is in article dated August 12, 2004, from the American Banker:

In Brief: Union: FDIC Bonuses Distributed Unfairly

A union representing most of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s employees has filed a grievance with the agency over employee bonuses.

Colleen M. Kelley, the president of the National Treasury Employees Union, wrote in a letter last week that the Corporate Success Awards - a bonus program implemented last year - had been distributed unfairly.

African-Americans, Hispanics, lower-ranking employees, and those over age 40 received disproportionately low percentages of the bonuses, Ms. Kelley argued.

"It is clear that there is no legitimate business reason to support the underrepresentation of certain demographic groups in the distribution of" the awards, she wrote.

A spokesman for the FDIC said he could not discuss the grievance specifically, but he said the agency's agreement with the union included a process for resolving the issue. Officials from the FDIC and the union plan to meet Monday to discuss the grievance, he said