Contractor J.A. Croson, a Sorrento, Fla.-based, plumbing and HVAC contractor, has agreed to pay $1.6 million to 17 Black and Hispanic former employees in Florida to settle charges that it subjected them to slurs and deliberately humiliating treatment.

In its lawsuit against the firm, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission alleged that managers made work assignments based on race and national origin.