US retailer Target has agreed to pay US$2.8m (£1.79m) to thousands of rejected job applicants after it was found tests they were given screened out people based on race or gender.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced this week it found the Minneapolis-headquartered corporation had used three employment assessments, which disproportionately screened out senior position applicants based on race or gender.

The EEOC said in a statement Target had discontinued the tests, and had made changes to its applicant tracking system.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports the money will be divided among 3,000 affected people. 

It also quotes EEOC Minnesota area acting director Julie Schmid as saying Target’s tests were “not sufficiently job-related”.

The pre-employment tests had been used over the last decade.

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