Leading Wall Street investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs (Goldman), one month before trial agreed to a settlement of a $215 million lawsuit on Friday following a lengthy gender-biased class action lawsuit, first filed in September 2010.

The action was bought by female associates and vice-presidents of the firm, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in which Section 703(a) prohibits against sex discrimination. The New York City Human Rights Law was also relied upon. The claim alleged Goldman under-payed female staff, and their performance evaluation, promotion and compensation practices negatively impacted female employees within the investment banking, investment management and securities divisions.

Following the settlement, the plaintiff of the proceedings, Shanna Orlich, stated, “As one of the original plaintiffs, I have been proud to support this case without hesitation over the last nearly thirteen years and believe this settlement will help women I had in mind when I filed the case.”

Plaintiff, Allison Gamba, also commented on the settlement: “My goal in this case has always been to support strong women on Wall Street. I am proud that the result we achieved here will advance gender equality.”

Approximately 2,887 former and current female employees have been subjected to sex discrimination by the financial giant.