Coca-Cola Puts the Brakes on Diversity Plan After Top Lawyer Resigns
4 May 2021
Coca-Cola has put the brakes on its controversial diversity plan, which included penalizing outside law firms if they did not meet racial diversity quotas, because of intense backlash.
The pause on the diversity plan comes after the plan’s architect, Coca-Cola’s former general counsel Bradley Gayton, abruptly resigned last month after serving less than a year on the job and faced mounting criticism of the quota system.
Some questioned if Gayton’s policies violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which says employers cannot discriminate against people on the basis of race.
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I), a taxpayer seeks an injunction against the Secretary s allegedly unlawful expenditure of public funds to enforce the gender quota as an allegedly invalid classification in violation of the Equal Protection clause of the California Constitution.[12]
In June 2020, the superior court overruled the Secretary s demurrer and upheld the taxpayer plaintiff s statutory standing to challenge an allegedly illegal use of public funds.[13] The case is headed for trial in late 2021. The same plaintiff and law firm filed a nearly identical action,
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II, on the heels of the 2020 diversity mandate legislation.[14]
In both cases, the lead issue for trial will be whether the quota-like board mandates violate the California Constitution, which provides: The State shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or pub
Coca-Cola: Company Will Only Hire Law Firms That Meet at Least 30% Diversity Quotas
14 Mar 2021
Coca-Cola’s legal department penned a letter to its U.S. outside counsel on January 28 stating law firms that want to work with Coca-Cola must “commit that at least 30 percent of each of billed associate and partner time will be from diverse attorneys, and of such amounts at least half will be from black attorneys.”
But the “ultimate aspiration” will be at least 50 percent, with at least half that amount from black attorneys.
For new matters, a law firm’s failure to comply with these diversity guidelines after two quarterly reviews will result in a non-refundable 30 percent reduction in fees payable going forward. Continued failure to adhere to the requirements could lead to a termination of the relationship between the firms and the soda company.