Coca-Cola, EEOC Announce $2.25M Disability Bias Settlement

Coca-Cola Refreshments USA will pay $2.25 million and revamp its leave policies for disabled workers to resolve nine bias charges filed by workers.

The pact was announced Aug. 23 by the company and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which investigated the charges. The deal continues the EEOC’s crackdown on employer leave policies that the agency believes don’t provide equal rights and opportunities to workers on or returning from leave because a medical condition has left them temporarily unable to do their job. The agency has sued and secured settlements with a litany of companies, but the agreement with Coca-Cola was reached through informal conciliation before a lawsuit was ever filed.

“This is a strong agreement that will improve policies and practices for individuals with disabilities and sets an example for many employers to follow,” the agency’s acting chair, Victoria A. Lipnic, said in a statement. “I commend Coca-Cola Refreshments USA and the EEOC staff in our Denver and Phoenix offices for bringing this matter to a successful resolution. I especially commend Coca-Cola Refreshments for agreeing to make the terms of this agreement public.”

“One of our guiding principles as an organization is to treat everyone with respect and fairness and create an inclusive work environment that values the contributions of everyone,” Coca-Cola Refreshments’ senior vice president of human resources, Brian Sasadu, said in the statement. “We are pleased that we have been able to work collaboratively with the EEOC to strengthen our disability leave policies to reflect best practices from inside and outside our business system.”

In addition to providing monetary relief for the nine workers who filed charges with the EEOC, the $2.25 million will be used to provide annual financial support to nonprofit entities dedicated to helping workers with disabilities find and keep employment, the statement said.

The changes Coca-Cola Refreshments will make to its leave policies and procedures will be designed to improve accommodations provided to employees returning to work after disability-related absences and will include creation of “a dedicated accommodation and leave management team,” the statement said.

Other companies that have entered agreements with the EEOC to resolve allegations of disability-related leave abuses include American and Envoy Airlines, Lowe’s Cos., and United Parcel Services Inc.