The Department of Justice today filed its largest residential fair lending settlement in history to resolve allegations that Countrywide Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries engaged in a widespread pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers in their mortgage lending from 2004 through 2008.

"In today’s settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation, we resolved the government’s allegations that Countrywide and its subsidiaries – which are now owned by Bank of America – engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending practices against more than 200,000 qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2008," said Attorney General Holder.

"At the core of the allegations in the complaint is a simple story: If you were African-American or Hispanic and you went to Countrywide for a loan, and you were qualified, you likely paid more simply because of the color of your skin. You likely paid more than a similarly-qualified white borrower if you were African-American or Hispanic and received your loan from a Countrywide loan officer, or from Countrywide’s mortgage brokers," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement with BAE Systems Ship Repair Inc., a leading provider of ship repair services, to settle allegations that its subsidiary, BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards Alabama LLC, engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by imposing unnecessary and additional documentary requirements on work-authorized non-U.S. citizens when establishing their eligibility to work in the United States.

"We expand opportunities in a wide range of areas, and today's agreement provides opportunity that will transform the Commonwealth of Virginia's system for delivering services to individuals with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, and improve the lives of thousands of Virginians with developmental disabilities," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The three-year settlement agreement will ensure that this rural district takes appropriate action to serve its small but growing and widely dispersed ELL population.

"This agreement reflects our commitment – at both the federal and state levels – to ensure justice, and to recover losses, for victims of reckless and abusive mortgage practices," said Attorney General Holder.

"The federal-state agreement contains provisions to ensure that our servicemembers receive the full protection of current law, as well as substantial new benefits," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The department reached a settlement with Gunnison Energy Corporation, SG Interests I Ltd. and SG Interests VII Ltd. that requires the companies to pay a total of $550,000 to the United States for antitrust and False Claims Act violations related to natural gas leases sold at auction by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.

MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC has agreed to settle its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the United States valued at $90 million, announced the Department of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today.

Lockheed Martin Corporation has agreed to pay $15,850,000 to settle allegations that it mischarged perishable tools used on numerous government contracts.

The Justice Department announced today a settlement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Trinity Health Systems to ensure that Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge, Iowa, provides effective communication to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Education reached agreement with the Boston Public Schools (the district) and its superintendent today to ensure that English Language Learner (ELL) students in Boston receive the services and supports they need to overcome language barriers, as required by the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This agreement replaces an interim settlement agreement entered on Oct. 1, 2010, which required the district to implement short-term remedies to ensure that thousands of students improperly excluded from the district’s ELL programs were promptly assessed and provided services.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its lawsuit against the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) for discriminating against women on maternity leave in violation of the Fair Housing Act. This settlement is the department’s first involving discrimination against women and families in mortgage insurance.

consent decree, valued at approximately $5.5 million, was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

"As today’s announcement shows, we are committed to combating health care fraud in all its forms – from fly-by-night operations to some of the nation’s largest companies pursuing sophisticated schemes targeting government health care programs," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"These agreements provide an example of the kind of resolution we will seek from companies that misguidedly put profits over patients," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

Pharmacia Corporation and Bayer CropScience Inc. have agreed to pay $4.25 million to federal and state natural resource trustees to resolve claims for natural resource damages connected with the Industri-plex Superfund site located in Woburn, Mass.

The city of Unalaska, Alaska, will undertake a major upgrade of its municipal sewage treatment plant under a settlement of a Clean Water Act enforcement action filed against the city and the state of Alaska by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

SunTrust Mortgage Inc., the mortgage lending subsidiary of the nation’s 11th-largest commercial bank, has agreed to pay $21 million to resolve a lawsuit by the Department of Justice that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination that increased loan prices for many of the qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers who obtained loans between 2005 and 2009 through SunTrust Mortgage’s regional retail offices and national network of mortgage brokers.

"Today’s settlement with SunTrust builds on an unprecedented period of fair lending enforcement by the department. Since the establishment of the Fair lending Unit, thanks to the committed career professionals in the Division, we have brought record numbers of enforcement actions," said Assistant Attorney General Perez.

The Justice Department today announced its largest-ever disability-based housing discrimination settlement fund to resolve allegations that JPI Construction L.P. and six other JPI entities based in Irving, Texas, discriminated on the basis of disability in the design and construction of multifamily housing complexes throughout the United States.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement agreement with the Fort Payne City School District in Alabama and private plaintiffs in a longstanding school desegregation case. The parties filed a proposed consent order in the federal district court in Birmingham, Ala.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a Clean Air Act settlement with Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC) that will cover the utility’s three power plants in Alma and Genoa, Wis. DPC has agreed to invest approximately $150 million in pollution control technology that will protect public health and resolve violations of the Clean Air Act.

The Department of Justice today filed the second largest fair lending settlement in the department’s history to resolve allegations that Wells Fargo Bank, the largest residential home mortgage originator in the United States, engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers in its mortgage lending from 2004 through 2009.

Capital One N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA) N.A. (together Capital One), have agreed to pay approximately $12 million to resolve a lawsuit by the Department of Justice alleging the companies violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC will pay a civil penalty of $1.25 million to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) at its Suffolk Downs racetrack facility in Revere and East Boston, Mass.

Under the terms of a consent decree lodged in federal court today, the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) will implement extensive remedial measures to minimize the discharge of sewage and other pollutants into the water bodies in and around Boston.

GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc., a large independent home mortgage firm that concentrates on the New York, New Jersey, and Florida markets, will pay $3.555 million to resolve a lending discrimination lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit alleges that GFI engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by pricing residential mortgage loans for qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher than for similarly-qualified non-Hispanic white borrowers between 2005 and 2009.

The Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, today entered into a settlement agreement with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) that requires ADE and Arizona public schools to offer targeted reading and writing intervention services to tens of thousands of English Language Learner (ELL) students who were prematurely exited or incorrectly identified as Initially Fluent English Proficient (IFEP) over the past five school years. The agreement also requires ADE to develop proficiency criteria that accurately identify and exit ELL students.

The Justice Department announced today that Luther Burbank Savings will invest $2 million in California communities and take other steps as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of race and national origin.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Grand Circle LLC, based in Boston, doing business as Grand Circle Travel, to resolve alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ensure that persons with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids, are afforded full and equal access to the company’s travel services and facilities.

Bank of America N.A. has agreed to maintain revised policies, conduct employee training and pay compensation to victims to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of disability and receipt of public assistance in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

Suiza Dairy has agreed to pay a penalty and make significant upgrades to settle Clean Air Act violations, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

The Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, have reached a settlement with AVX Corp. for $366.25 million plus interest regarding the New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site, in New Bedford, Mass.

In one of the first False Claims Act settlements involving Medicare’s Prescription Drug Program, known as Part D, RxAmerica LLC. has entered into a civil settlement agreement with the United States in which it has agreed to pay the government $5.25 million to resolve allegations that it made false submissions to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Justice Department announced today. RxAmerica, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CVS Caremark Corporation, provides prescription drug benefits to Medicare beneficiaries pursuant to a prescription drug plan.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of North Adams, Mass., to improve access for people with disabilities to civic life in North Adams. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the Justice Department’s initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The compliance review was initiated in response to a complaint that the city’s police station was physically inaccessible.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement with Mrs. K’s Tollhouse Restaurant of Silver Spring, Md., to remedy alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The agreement resolves allegations that the restaurant failed to remove architectural barriers that made parts of it inaccessible to people with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs.

The Justice Department announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with the Henry County School District in Henry County, Ga., to ensure that all students in the district are able to enroll in school, regardless of national origin or immigration status.

The Justice Department today announced that it has entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement with the town of East Haven, Conn., to resolve the department’s complaint alleging that the East Haven Police Department (EHPD) engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination against individuals on account of race, color or national origin. The agreement also resolves allegations that EHPD engaged in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force and unconstitutional searches and seizures. The department and town jointly filed the agreement in federal district court today seeking the court’s approval and continued jurisdiction to enforce its terms.

The United States has entered into two settlements worth more than $50 million to clean up contamination from the B.F. Goodrich Superfund Site in San Bernardino County, Calif.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with Penguin Group (USA) Inc.–one of the largest book publishers in the United States–and will continue to litigate against Apple Inc. and Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC, which does business as Macmillan, for conspiring to raise e-book prices to consumers.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached a settlement agreement with R-Tronics LLC, a company based in Rome, N.Y., which manufactures custom and prototype cables, wire harnesses and electro-mechanical assemblies. The agreement resolves allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by limiting its hiring practices to U.S. citizens.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced today – Dec. 28, 2012 – a settlement of the United States’ federal court lawsuit against Custer County and the State of Idaho concerning county action on roads and trails on federal land in Custer County.

Transocean Deepwater Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties, for its conduct in relation to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Department of Justice announced today

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Peroutka and Peroutka P.A., a debt collection law firm based in Pasadena, Md., to resolve allegations that the law firm violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by discriminating against people who are deaf.

The Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) will invest approximately $300 million in pollution control technology, pay a civil penalty of $1.2 million, and spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA), according to the terms of a settlement with the United States.

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with Centerplate Inc., resolving allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Community State Bank of St. Charles, Mich., will open a loan production office in an African-American neighborhood in Saginaw, Mich., invest $165,000 in majority African-American areas in and around Saginaw and take other steps as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of race.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with Houston Community College resolving allegations that the college violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.