Merrill Lynch agreed to pay $1.55 million and improve employee training to settle a lawsuit that claimed discrimination in the firing of an analyst because he was an Iranian Muslim. The settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday resolved allegations that Merrill had fired Majid Borumand, a quantitative analyst, because of his religion and national origin in August 2005, and retained and promoted a less qualified person. Merrill denied the charges in a lawsuit filed by the agency in federal court in Manhattan in June 2007. A Merrill spokesman declined to comment on the settlement.
