EEOC Sues Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast for Sex Discrimination

BOSTON – Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, Inc., a producer, seller and distributor of Coca-Cola brand products throughout the Northeast United States, violated federal law when it excluded male employees from an employer-sponsored event, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in September 2024, Bedford, N.H.-headquartered Coca-Cola Northeast held a two-day employer-sponsored trip and networking event at the Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Connecticut. Coca-Cola Northeast privately invited female employees and then excused the female employees who attended the event from their normal work duties on Sept. 10 and 11, 2024, and paid them their normal salary or wages without requiring them to use vacation or other paid time off. Coca-Cola Northeast did not invite any male employees to the event.

“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has long made the exclusion of one protected class of employees from an employer-sponsored event a violation of the law,” said Catherine L. Eschbach, acting EEOC general counsel. “Excluding men from an employer-sponsored event is a Title VII violation that the EEOC will act to remedy through litigation when necessary. The EEOC remains committed to ensuring that all employees – men and women alike – enjoy equal access to all aspects of their employment, including participation in employer-sponsored events, regardless of their sex, race or other protected category.”

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from making employment decisions motivated by sex. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-00115) in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

For more information on sex-based discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination.

For more information on DEI-related discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-dei-related-discrimination-work.

The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Boston Area Office, one of four component offices of the EEOC’s New York District Office. The New York District Office has jurisdiction over Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, northern New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.