News Article

Coke to Pay $193 Million In Bias Suit Black Employees Sought Damages

The Washington Post

Published: November 17, 2000

Coca-Cola Co. agreed yesterday to pay a record $ 192.5 million to settle a racial-discrimination lawsuit brought by black workers and agreed to make significant changes in the way it manages, promotes and treats its minority employees.

The company admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to pay $ 113 million to thousands of black employees and spend $ 43.5 million to adjust its salaries and $ 36 million for programs to monitor its employment practices.

The world's largest soft-drink maker also agreed to set up a watchdog group to review the company's diversity efforts and order changes in its employment policies and practices.

The settlement is the largest ever in a U.S. race-discrimination lawsuit, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which did not comment on the case because it was not a party to the lawsuit.

"This is a watershed event and hopefully will serve as a wake-up call to other companies," said Pamela Coukos of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC, the D.C. firm that represented the employees. The agreement covers about 2,200 black salaried employees and former employees who worked for the company in the United States between April 1995 and June 2000.

"One of the key theories of our case was that Coke was failing to monitor its managers and the decisions that they were making," said Coukos.

Cyrus Mehri of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC called the agreement a "sister settlement" to the Texaco agreement--the two share similar provisions--but one that has far more power.