Posted on 02/04/2021 2:36:08 AM PST by gattaca
“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.”
Coca-Cola Company is now mandating racial quotas for how its outside law firms staff Coca-Cola work. Not just aspirations to increase diversity, straight out minimums based on race. In the zero sum game of how a limited number of matters are staffed by a limited number of lawyers, that means Coca-Cola is mandating that law firms engage in racism.
Bloomberg Law reports:
The Coca-Cola Company has launched one of the legal industry’s most rigorous outside counsel diversity programs yet, requiring law firms to give a portion of work to Black attorneys specifically and withholding a nonrefundable 30% of fees from those that fail to meet diverse staffing metrics.
The Atlanta-based beverage giant announced the new standards in a Jan. 28 letter to Coca-Cola’s outside firms, obtained by Bloomberg Law.
“We will no longer celebrate good intentions or highly unproductive efforts that haven’t and aren’t likely to produce better diverse staffing,” General Counsel Bradley Gayton wrote. “It’s the results that we are demanding and will measure going forward.”
Coca-Cola is forcing its outside counsel to staff at least 30% of new matters with diverse attorneys, with at least half of that billable time going to Black lawyers in particular. Gayton told Bloomberg Law he hopes to increase the overall diverse billable hour staffing requirement to 50% within the next two years.
The letter (pdf.) provides the following chart spelling out the quotas, including who qualifies as a “diversity” attorney and what the minimum percentages need to be:
Outside counsel commit to providing KO with self-identified diversity data (including American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Women, Hispanic/Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and Persons with Disabilities) for KO’s quarterly analysis of the diversity of teams working on KO matters
* * *
For each new KO matter following the revision to the guidelines (“New Matters”), you 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. Work performed by diverse attorneys is expected to be accretive to their development and advancement at the firm. These percentages are approximately linked to U.S. Census population data. These minimum commitments will be adjusted over time as U.S. Census data evolves, with an ultimate aspiration that at least 50% of billed associate time and billed partner time will be from diverse attorneys with at least half of that amount from Black attorneys. You will also work to apply the above commitment to our existing matters with your firm.
To show you how woke Coke has become, the Chief Executive uses the term “Latinx,” a term rejected by the vast majority of Latinos. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
James Quincey, the company’s chief executive, last year committed to doubling Coke’s purchases from Black-owned businesses in the United States over five years.
Quincey said in a recent panel discussion that, in terms of diversity, Coke had done well at its board level and “reasonably well” in the executive ranks, but “we need to do much better” in the professional and middle-tier ranks. He also said large companies can influence small companies around them “and help them to live up to the dream.”
Coke has about 240 legal staffers globally, half in the U.S. About half of its U.S. attorneys are white. About 23% are black, 18% are Asian and 10% are Hispanic.
Gayton, the company’s legal chief, said the numbers are “pretty good” but “to be honest with you I want to do better with Hispanic and Latinx.”
Of course law firms are all on board with discriminating among their attorneys, they want the business:
Gayton told Law.com that Coca-Cola has already started to preview the program with law firms.
“There’s really broad support for what we’re doing,” he said.
Coke is bragging about and touting the new quotas:
This week, the Coca-Cola legal department shared a letter with our outside counsel. It details our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging, including new requirements for all law firm partners moving forward. Learn more: https://t.co/G5WIWzAkFt pic.twitter.com/EuHO1lMH8z
— The Coca-Cola Co. (@CocaColaCo) January 28, 2021
Racial discrimination in employment through the use of quotas is illegal. Coke likely will claim it does not impost quotas, only financial incentives. But those financial incentives are based on racial quota compliance. The law firms may not have even that defense — Coke may be offloading the legal liability onto the law firms which will be required to implement the quotas.
The question is, who has the guts to sue Coke or the law firms? Certainly not the law firms who want the business, or the attorneys who want to continue working at the law firms.
So basically they are telling Martin-Luther king to go to hell....
“Judge a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
This is obviously racist. But that aside, I continue to wonder how this sort of thing is supposed to work. For example, would an attorney with just one black parent count as a black attorney? Or only as half a black attorney?
Perhaps Coca-Cola should refer back to the old Nazi racial laws. The Nazis pretty much had this all figured out.
Anyway, things go better without Coke.
Likely good news for anyone suing them—attorneys hired for affirmative action versus merit.
“Outside counsel commit to providing KO with self-identified diversity data (including American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Women, Hispanic/Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and Persons with Disabilities) for KO’s quarterly analysis of the diversity of teams working on KO matters”
In other words - anyone other than straight, white males.
I drink Pepsi products. But i suppose they will one up Coke on virtue signalling (if they haven’t already).
It’s the new crack...er coke. Where’s Hunter?
After they lose around a dozen simple cases...some review will occur, and they will still keep the non-white staffing, but they will manage contract deals with outside law firms, with mostly all non-minorities. After a decade of this...paying two lawyers for double lawyering...some Coke executive will suggest dumping half of their in-house lawyers because they have no real value.
So they are cutting black attorneys down to 11% and bumping Hispanic attorneys up to 40% to match population statistics?
There's lots of 'self-identified groups not listed: Heterosexual couples where the man's on top... Widowed masturbation groups, people originally from Scotland, England, France, and the outer Antilles... Women who put mothering ahead of work, women who put work ahead of mothering, fathers who stay home, fathers who go to work, people who attend Church MORE than two times a week... people without disabilities, people who wear glasses, people who wake up happy...
It's time to expand the groups... if we're throwing out merit than we all need to get ALL group included.
Feel free to add to the lists...
Everybody do the Warren maneuver.
From now on you designate yourself as a minority.
You can be sure that Coca-Cola never made a similar demand for airline pilots for their business travel.
FTA---Racial discrimination in employment through the use of quotas is illegal. Coke may be offloading its own
legal liability onto outside law firms which will be required to implement Coke-imposed quotas. Coke likely will claim
it does not impost quotas, only financial incentives. But those financial incentives are based on racial quota compliance.
The now-burdened law firms may not have even that defense.
14th Amendment ---All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Can’t believe how EXCLUSIONARY they are being.
Yup,go woke, go broke.
Someday soon, perhaps.
You mean like jailhouse Lawyers? Cool.
Coca-Cola is racist for not hiring these minorities already but instead pushing them to other employers.
Goodbye Coca Cola. I will buy store brands from now on.
Used to be a symbol of America, now a symbol of cowardice.
The big question is, is the government putting the squeeze on Coke, or is this an inside job?
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