The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Coca-Cola has been sued for race discrimination and racial harassment by 16 black and Hispanic employees located in Queens and Westchester, New York. These employees claim that they were forced to perform low-level jobs that were not assigned to white workers.

One of the victimized employees, Sondra Walker claimed that she was subjected to degrading racial slurs.

The plaintiffs allege that their complaints went unheeded, no disciplinary action was taken against their aggressors, and, in fact, they were subject to retaliation.

Walker cited two particular incidences that were quite egregious: on one occasion, a white employee was permitted to wear a Confederate flag bandana on his head, and on another occasion, a white employee who was asked to clean a sewer uttered a racial slur.

Guillermo Nunez, a plaintiff who is claiming he suffered infliction of emotional distress, retorted that it was his belief that Coca-Cola was an ethically minded employer prior to its indifference to racial harassment.

Coca-Cola spokesman Toney Anaya stated that Coca-Cola was aware of the allegations and was in the process of conducting an in-house investigation.

How could a global company like Coca-Cola have allowed such a serious incident of racial harassment to occur? What could have been done to avoid it?