The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is urging Cisco Systems Inc. to settle allegations of racial discrimination against five minority job applicants or else face a lawsuit from the agency.

In rejecting four black applicants and one Asian-American applicant, the San Jose, Calif.-based company “demonstrated an ongoing pattern and practice of not hiring qualified minority candidates based on their race, color and national origin (including Hispanics),” the EEOC said.