Goldman Sachs Group agreed to pay US$215 million to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit that alleged widespread bias against women in both pay and promotions, a joint statement from the company and the plaintiffs said.

The settlement covers about 2,800 female associates and vice presidents who worked in investment banking, investment management and securities, according to the statement late on Monday.

The lawsuit was among the highest-profile cases to allege unequal treatment of women on Wall Street.

"The most important component of a settlement like this one is that employers take the opportunity to go back and do the self-analysis without the need for litigation," said Domenique Camacho Moran, a partner who leads the labor and employment practice at law firm Farrell Fritz.

"It's critical for employers to step back, regardless of what they thought their intent was, and go back and analyse, pay practices, promotion practices, performance reviews."

Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are among the banks and brokerages that have settled gender lawsuits in the last decade.

In a well-known 1990s case, Smith Barney settled charges that men harassed women in a basement space known as the "Boom-Boom Room."

The #MeToo movement and a change in New York law have made gender lawsuits more popular in recent years, Moran said. The campaign seeks to prevent and expose sexual harassment.

The lawsuit against Goldman dates back to 2010, when former Goldman executives Cristina Chen-Oster and Shanna Orlich filed a complaint alleging the bank denied them equal pay and promotions because of their gender.

"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 the women I had in mind when I filed the case," Orlich said in a statement.

The settlement provided "substantial, certain recoveries for all class members and advances gender equity at Goldman," said Kelly Dermody, co-counsel for the plaintiffs. (Reuters)