The University of California has reached a tentative settlement with hundreds of Asian-American scientists and engineers who filed a class-action suit alleging discrimination in pay and promotion at UC-run Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Pending approval by Alameda County Superior Court, UC has agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million to settle the suit filed in 2001 that includes 460 lab workers. The settlement does not require the lab or UC to admit to any discrimination or wrongdoing. "This is in the best interest of both sides because both wanted to avoid a long, expensive legal process," said lab spokeswoman Lynda Seaver. The settlement would mark the end of a long battle over racial bias at the lab that came to a boil in 1999 during a security crackdown at the national labs after Los Alamos lab employee Wen Ho Lee was fired and accused of spying for China. [more]