The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed on Thursday in the federal court in Atlanta by four current and past black employees. Citing statistical data, the suit contends that there are massive disparities between black and white employees in salaries, promotions, performance evaluations and dismissals. The suit seeks unspecified damages plus other remedies. The company disputes the charges.

Chairman rebuts claims
The Atlanta soft-drink company promotes its products to blacks and other minorities, "fostering a positive image" to outsiders, but "treats African-Americans inside the company woefully," said Cyrus Mehri, a Washington attorney representing the plaintiffs. Mehri represented employees in a race-bias suit against Texaco Inc. that resulted in a $116 million settlement in1996.

On Friday, M. Douglas Ivester, Coca-Cola's chairman and chief executive, sent an e-mail to US employees, saying the company didn't tolerate discrimination. "I want each of you to know that while we believe the lawsuit is without merit, I take these allegations seriously," Ivester wrote. "And our management takes them seriously. As you have heard me say many times: We will do the right thing."

Two of the plaintiffs -- Motisola Malikha Abdallah, an administrative assistant, and Linda Ingram, a senior information analyst -- said in interviews that their complaints about job discrimination weren't taken seriously. Ingram, who said she has been on disability leave for depression as a result of her experiences, said once after a misunderstanding with a white manager, the manager came "so close in my face that I could feel her breath" and yelled, "This is why you people don't get anywhere."

The manager was later fired, but other managers blamed Ingram and retaliated by treating her rudely, giving herassignments without adequate instructions and forcing her to redo her work, according to the suit, which also alleges that Ingram was underpaid compared with her white counterparts.

Abdallah said her attempts to get a pay raise were rebuffed and that white managers demeaned her by demanding she run personal errands for them. "Just because you see a black face doesn't mean I'm your maid," Abdallah said.

A Coca-Cola spokesman said the three plaintiffs who are current employees filed complaints within the company. Coke investigated but found no evidence of discrimination, he said.

Some black employees sought help from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People before filing the suit. Rev. Joseph Wheeler, president of the Clayton County, Georgia, branch of the NAACP, said his organization met with Coca-Cola officials because he thought the complaints had merit but that the company didn't respond adequately.

"We can't help but conclude (the discrimination) is systemic given the numberof complaints and the way the company handled it," Wheeler said. The suit alleges "dramatic differences" in pay at the corporate headquarters, saying a data review shows the median salary for blacks in 1995 was about $34,000, compared with $55,000 for whites.

In 1998, the "salary gap had worsened," with the median salary for black employees at about $36,000, compared with $65,000 for whites. One of the plaintiffs, former executive Kimberly Gray Orton, alleges that she was paid less than white employees she supervised.

Other barriers
African-Americans hit a "glass ceiling" at Coca-Cola, with few executives advancing to senior positions, according to the lawsuit. It says black employees also face other barriers, notably "glass walls" that "virtually segregate the company into divisions where African-American leadership is acceptable, and divisions where it is not." The suit alleges that black executives are channelled into "non-revenue generating areas," such as human resources, external affairsand community relations. High-level executives in marketing and finance are almost all white, according to the suit.

Of the 38 corporate officers listed in the company's annual report, four are black. The most senior is Carl Ware, president of the company's Africa division. If approved by the court, the class action would include all salaried black employees who have worked at any time for Coca-Cola in the US since April 22, 1995, an estimated 1,500 people.

The Asian Wall Street Journal