Under the terms of the settlement, River View will pay $US245,000 to a group of African-American applicants that the commission said the operator had excluded for coal mining positions at its complex in Waverly beginning in August 2008.

Alliance was charged with race discrimination in hiring, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The EEOC filed suit 4:11-cv-00117-JHM-HBB in US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through conciliation.

The money will be distributed to the class of applicants named in the suit, though the EEOC did not indicate how many were involved.

In addition to the monetary settlement, River View Coal must also report on its hiring for a two-year period and will be prohibited from engaging in future discrimination and from retaliating against those who exercise their rights to report complaints or assist in an investigation or proceeding.

River View Coal must also post a notice of non-discrimination at the complex and train any hiring managers and employees that are involved in the hiring process, among other provisions.

“Addressing allegations of hiring discrimination is an EEOC priority and I am delighted that a resolution has been reached,” EEOC Indianapolis regional attorney Laurie Young said.

Alliance, which did not release a public statement on the settlement, operates 10 coal mines in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and West Virginia.

The underground room and pillar River View mine in Union County began production in 2009.

It produced 8.6 million tonnes in 2012 and had 127.2Mt of reserves at the end of last year.