News Article

Few Plaintiffs Opt Out of the Coca-Cola Discrimination Settlement

The New York Times

Published: May 20, 2001

A $192.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit that accused the Coca-Cola Company of racial discrimination cleared a potential hurdle yesterday when only 23 members of the class chose to opt out. If more than 200 people had opted out, Coke could have canceled the settlement.

The next legal step will be a hearing on May 29 for the court to review the fairness of the settlement's terms. The next deadline for class members is April 30, when they must respond with any corrections to a letter from the company describing their employment history.

Cyrus Mehri, one of the lawyers for the class, said each plaintiff would receive $40,000 on average.

Mr. Mehri said that some of the plaintiffs who signed the petition did not realize what they were signing and only wanted more information about the details of the settlement and more time to think about whether to opt out.

One plaintiff sent Mr. Mehri an e-mail message asking how she could remove her name from the petition and attacking the petition and the manner in which signatures were collected for it.

"There was not a letter attached to the petition when I signed it," the plaintiff, Jacquelyn Vortice, wrote to Mr. Mehri. "I was satisfied with the settlement terms and had no plans to opt out. "

Mr. Mehri said, "People felt tricked because they did not see the text" of the petition, and he added that he had also heard from other plaintiffs who supported the settlement.