Lawsuit says local Coke bottler discriminates

By: Chris Nisan | Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder | 5/19/2004

No Black women hired by Coca-Cola Enterprises prior to complaint

"I'm hoping that once the information gets out about how Coca-Cola is discriminating, they will have to open the doors to more Black women," said Glenda Robertson, explaining one of the reasons she is pursuing a racial and gender discrimination lawsuit against Coca-Cola Enterprises.

Robertson is a merchandiser at American Bottling Company. Merchandisers set up soft drink displays at convenience and grocery stores.

"Any settlement has to have Coca-Cola admitting that they have been guilty of discrimination and implementing a serious affirmative action program to hire, train, and promote women minorities," said Robertson.

Robertson's fight with Coca-Cola began in December of 2001 when she was denied a job at Coca-Cola's Eagan bottling facility for the second time in as many years.

"It took me two years to realize that there were no Black women working for them," said Robertson.

"Coca-Cola Enterprises maintains a commitment to recruit, hire and train individuals without regard to race," said Kevin Morris, vice president of public affairs for Coca-Cola Enterprises.

But Jordon Kushner, Robertson's attorney, begged to differ. "What makes this case real notable is that, to our knowledge, this Coca-Cola facility has never hired a Black woman until after this case was filed."

The complaint filed by Robertson in U.S. District Court states, among other things, that Robertson "had substantial experience performing the same job for other employers and was fully qualified for the position [and] demonstrated her qualifications in the course of interviews and testing." It also alleges that Coca-Cola "rejected Robertson's application for employment," and hired other applicants "for the same position who were less qualified than Robertson."

The fight for good jobs

Glenda Robertson is like many Black women who have chosen to move to Minnesota from other parts of the country. "I heard that Minnesota had plenty of jobs," she said, explaining what motivated her to leave her native Chicago and make the Twin Cities her home.

"I always worked physical labor jobs," Robertson continued. "My mother was always teaching me how to do things. I guess that's where I got it from. If a furnace was broke, she got on her hands and knees and fixed it whether she had on a pair of overalls or a sundress."

It was confidence in her capacity for physical labor that led Robertson to seek and find work as a soft drink merchandiser with American Bottling Company, which bottles and distributes 7-Up and A&W products. It is also the reason why she became suspicious when she was turned down twice for a better-paying job as a merchandiser by Coca-Cola Enterprises in Eagan.

Her suspicions led her to file a discrimination claim against Coca-Cola with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. "I saw White people who worked for the company I work for now, with less experience than me, get jobs as merchandisers with Coke," said Robertson.

The EEOC affirmed Robertson's suspicions. "We investigated Ms. Robertson's charge and found probable cause of discrimination," said Tina Burnside, a senior trial attorney with the EEOC. "We found that there were other Black women who were also denied jobs," Burnside said. "We tried to settle the case through conciliation but were unsuccessful. It was then that we filed a lawsuit."

Burnside explained that during the course of their investigation, the EEOC found that there were at least 11 other Black women applicants who were not hired during roughly the same period.

A history of problems at Coke

Coca-Cola has had problems with charges of racial discrimination before. In 2000, 10 Black employees filed a discrimination lawsuit against Coca-Cola Enterprises. In the suit, Black employees charged that Coke subjected Black employees to a "steady barrage" of racial discrimination and harassments, and that they were routinely subjected to reprisals for objecting to or reporting discrimination.

Black employees also charged that Coke "hires and retains a disproportionately small percentage of non-White employees and managers," and restricts non-Whites to "grunt work."

The suit was settled out of court. The terms of the settlement were unavailable.

Coca-Cola Company, the parent company of Coca-Cola Enterprises, has also encountered trouble of the same nature in the recent past. In 1999, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of over 2,000 then current and former Black workers at Coca-Cola Company. The suit was settled in 2000 for $192.5 million and promises by Coke to make changes.

As for Robertson, she says that she is not interested in just a settlement of the case - she wants justice. "It's not just about me, it's about all of the other minority women.

"Most people make the deal and take a closed-door settlement. This is not about that. It is about letting people know what Coca-Cola is doing. I'm hoping that once this information gets out, they will have to open the doors more."

Editor's note: We requested data from Coca-Cola Enterprises on the number of Black female merchandisers they employ, but the company declined to provide that information or any other specific response to the lawsuit. We have been advised that the supervisor of the merchandisers is a Black female; however, we also understand that this individual was hired after Robertson's lawsuit was filed.

Chris Nisan welcomes reader responses to rclark@spokesman-recorder.com.