News Article

Judge Encourages Coke To Keep New Diversity

Harry R. Weber, The Associated Press

Published: December 02, 2006

A federal judge Friday encouraged The Coca-Cola Co. to maintain its commitment to diversity in the workplace after receiving the final report from a task force born from a $200 million discrimination settlement by the world's largest beverage maker.

The report said the Atlanta-based company has made significant progress toward more equal opportunities in the workplace for minorities and women. But, the report said, to be sustainable "the many improvements in personnel practices that have begun to take root must become embedded in the company's culture."

Coca-Cola Chief Executive Neville Isdell, who had asked the task force to extend its duties for the fifth year, told the judge that the company knows it has more to do.

Plaintiff's lawyer Cyrus Mehri agreed that the company has made progress in diversifying its workforce and showing that its actions were "not just symbolic but a commitment."

The report said the company has successfully diversified its candidate and interview pools for open positions. The task force also said that the gap that existed between black employees' and all other employees' perception of the diversity climate has narrowed significantly from prior years, with blacks rating the company nearly as favorably as whites, Hispanics and Asian Americans.

The original suit was filed in 1999 on behalf of current and former employees. The main settlement applied to about 2,200 salaried black employees who worked for Coke between April 22, 1995, and June 14, 2000.