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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Coke Demands That It's Law Firms Engage in Unlawful Discrimination

 
In January 2021, the general counsel of Coca Cola sent a letter to the law firms that represent it. The letter demanded, among other things, that these firms “commit that at least 30% 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.”

To enforce this demand, Coke’s general counsel warned that failure to comply on a given new legal engagement over two quarterly reviews “will result in a non-refundable 30% reduction in the fees payable for such New Matter going forward until the commitment is met and, continued failure may result in your firm no longer being considered for. . .work.” Meeting Coke’s diversity requirements will also “be a significant factor in determining. . .inclusion and ongoing status on [Coke’s soon-to-be -released] panel” of “preferred firms.”

Except in very limited circumstances, it is illegal for an employer to make hiring, staffing, and assignment decisions based on race. It is also illegal for a company to require its contractors to do so. If a company demanded that law firms staff its matters with only White attorneys, no one would deny the illegality of the mandate.........To Read More.... 

My Take - For a company to impose this kind of thing in itself it's their business.  To impose it on others is criminal, although the federal government does this all the time, it's still criminal for a private company to do so.  

Having said that, I can believe this will leave them with the option to hire different companies, minority owned companies with a large minority employee count, and we'll see how much Coke likes that.   We need to thank Coca Cola for this Woke moment and then watch just how well "Wokeness" works for them.  Especially their sales, since it's being claimed they're having trouble with their sales, as are all soda makers, and are doing this to appeal to the young white liberal bottled water drinking population.  

If I was representing them I would tell them to take their business and shove it.  But I'm not an attorney, and we all know just how much integrity the "legal" profession has.  

My attitude is "Get Woke, Go Broke".   Good riddance, I like RC Cola better anyway.  

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