Coca-Cola Diversity Policy Risks Violating Anti-Discrimination Laws, Shareholders Warn

Coca-Cola Diversity Policy Risks Violating Anti-Discrimination Laws, Shareholders Warn
In this Monday, July 15, 2013 photo, bottle tops of Coca-Cola 8 oz. bottles are shown in Doral, Fla. The Coca-Cola Co. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Bill Pan
Bill Pan
Reporter
|Updated:

A group of Coca-Cola shareholders are warning that the company’s recent diversity policy would actually require contracted law firms to violate anti-discrimination laws.

In a letter dated June 11, the American Civil Rights Project (ACRP) noted that on Jan. 28, the general counsel of Coca-Cola demanded law firms seeking to keep the company as a client must commit that at least 30 percent of billed time would be from “diverse attorneys,” and at least half of that time would be from black attorneys.