MIAMI (AP) – Supercuts Inc. has agreed to pay about $3.2 million to settle claims by a former manager that the national haircutting chain discriminated against black employees, the federal government said.

Supercuts parent Regis Corp. denied the allegations that spurred an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which announced the settlement Wednesday.

Richard Quick claimed he was fired in August 1998 for refusing to participate in a plan to reduce the number of black workers for Minneapolis-based Supercuts, the commission said.

The settlement will go to Quick and black workers who were denied promotions, fired or turned away during the application process from November 1996 to December 2001 in 11 states and Puerto Rico. A commission official would not specify how the money would be divided.

In a statement, Regis President and Chief Executive Paul D. Finkelstein said “the amount of time that lapsed between the original complaint and today made it prohibitive to defend our position.”