News Article

Coke Talks Were 'Intense,' Mediator Says; Skilled Diplomacy: Veteran Intermediary Hunter Hughes Calls It The Most Difficult Case He's Had

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

Published: June 18, 2000

Time was running out for Hunter Hughes. Face-to-face negotiations to settle the Coca-Cola discrimination suit were creeping along for nearly two months, and the man charged with brokering a deal had to do something.

Hughes, a veteran mediator of complex class-action suits, reached into his bag of tricks and decided to suspend virtually all direct contact between the parties. Instead, he would separate the two teams of attorneys into different rooms at a downtown law office, reducing the temperature in what was becoming a pressure cooker.

"The atmosphere was tense, but the negotiations were intense, at a level as high as you're ever going to get," Hughes said. "I would shuttle between the significant number of lawyers in each room. "

Still, the 56-year-old Dallas native, who had settled several high- profile class-action cases, including those involving Home Depot and Publix, was in for the battle of his professional life.

"In terms of the multiple issues and the multiple tensions involved, this is the most difficult case I've ever had," said Hughes, who has been doing class-action work for 20 years. The suit alleges that Coca-Cola has systematically discriminated against African-Americans in pay, promotions and performance evaluations. The company denies the claims.

Finally, after three weeks of shuttle diplomacy, an agreement in principle was hatched last Wednesday, just minutes before a deadline that would have likely submarined the talks. A team of paralegals from the plaintiffs' side was already at the federal courthouse on Spring Street with 30 boxes of information. They were preparing to file a class certification brief that would have reignited a legal war.

Then the breakthrough came. One of the plaintiffs' attorneys rushed to a phone to stop the paralegals.

"We had worked down from scores of issues to one final issue that had been on the table for a long time," said Hughes, a partner with the law firm of Rogers & Hardin.

He would not elaborate on the issue or how it was handled. In fact, he declined to discuss most topics during his first interview about the talks, which are still cloaked in secrecy because of a court order.

Even Hughes' identity has been kept confidential until now.

But he granted the interview to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to discuss one key issue: What happens next?

Hughes and the attorneys on both sides know that the class of 2,000 black salaried employees and former employees who are covered by the agreement are growing impatient.

But they're not going to be getting any concrete answers to their questions until late October at the earliest. That's when the agreement in principle will be completely fleshed out with all of its terms. That deal will include a monetary settlement for four plaintiffs, the class of 2,000 and the attorneys representing them.

In the meantime, Hughes said, he had two pieces of advice for the class.

"One is that in cases such as this, by definition, there are numerous rumors that travel about that are usually inaccurate," he said.

"Secondly, I would wait until the final determination is made as to all of the provisions of the agreement . . . and make a judgment at that time. "

Hughes said it would be premature and serve no class member's interest to hire a lawyer now. "I think that would be bizarre," he said.

Already, however, a new discrimination suit has been filed on behalf of four former employees who are represented by prominent attorneys Willie Gary and Johnnie Cochran. More individual suits may be in the offing.

If enough splintering among the class of employees occurs, the benefits of the settlement agreement could be reduced, especially for Coke. The company may have to litigate lots of individual discrimination cases down the road.

Still, legal experts said, settling a contentious class-action lawsuit has several benefits for the company. Chief among them is the fact that individuals who file a new suit must have solid evidence behind them because they would no longer have the clout of a suit filed on behalf of a class.

Hughes explained that an individual plaintiff can take only "minimal" advantage of any statistical evidence proving systemic discrimination. In a class-action case, however, such statistical evidence can overcome some of the weaknesses in individual cases.

"It must be a very strong case," Hughes said of filing separate suits. "There is a substantial risk to going it alone. "

What's more, the settlement agreement is likely to include new programs and policies to improve diversity conditions in the future. That could help take away some of the potential public-relations sting Coca-Cola might feel if individual lawsuits are filed over past conditions.

In the coming months, Hughes said, class members can expect the following:

First, attorneys for both sides will be putting more meat on the agreement's bones. The final wording should be completed in about 10 days.

They then will be selecting the experts who will be helping to determine the key outstanding issue --- "the final amount of monetary relief for the class," Hughes said. He added that the experts will not have wide latitude to roam. "The issues have been narrowly defined for the experts to decide. "

After the experts do their job, a final agreement is submitted to U.S. District Judge Richard Story. He makes a preliminary determination about whether the deal is fair.

If the judge approves it, the provisions of the settlement will be mailed to all 2,000 class members sometime in late October or early November.

The notice will explain that each class member must decide to follow one of three courses of action: (1) a class member can agree with the settlement and receive the monetary benefits; (2) a class member can "opt out" of the settlement, receive no money and file an individual lawsuit for monetary damages; or (3) a class member can object to the settlement as being unfair. The judge will hold a hearing on the objections before making a final determination on whether the settlement is fair. If the settlement is deemed fair, it will then take effect.

If the settlement is ruled unfair, the parties could change the agreement or decide to cancel it and go back to litigating the case.

Hughes had one final piece of advice for class members who have questions after receiving written notice about the final settlement.

"Call a class attorney . . . and get advice as to all of your options or go to see your own separate attorney," he said. "You should not make a judgment on a matter this important based on your reading of the (settlement) notice unless you're absolutely sure of what you want to do. "