IN BRIEF: 1st Union Paying $208K in Salary Adjustments

First Union Corp. has signed an agreement to correct pay disparities that affected 146 female employees in Virginia, according to the U.S. Labor Department's office of contract compliance here.

The agreement, which calls for First Union to pay $207,790 in back pay and salary adjustments, resulted from a random audit of First Union's Roanoake operations by the Labor Department in 1995.

The audit found that many women clerical workers and managers were paid less than men in similar positions, despite similar education, experience, and performance, said William Thorpe, district director for the contract compliance office in Richmond.

Mr. Thorpe said the audit was only of the Roanoke offices and did not include other First Union operations, so it is not known if pay disparity exists in other locations.

Ken Darby, a First Union spokesman, said the Charlotte, N.C.-based company corrected the pay disparity in Roanoke two years ago, rendering the recent agreement with the Labor Department a "paperwork situation."

In April the Labor Department reached a similar agreement with CoreStates Financial Corp. of Philadelphia, which First Union acquired in April. CoreStates agreed to pay $1.5 million to 142 women and minorities to resolve pay disparity issues.

- Carey Gillam