EEOC Sues Coca-Cola Bottling Company United for Disability Discrimination
Federal lawsuit says bottling company failed to provide reasonable accommodation for employee’s dialysis and fired him
NEW ORLEANS – Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc. (CCBCU), the third-largest bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products in the United States and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, violated federal law by failing to accommodate an employee with a disability and then firing him because of his disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.
According to the suit, the employee, who worked as a delivery driver for CCBCU in Lafayette, Louisiana, was diagnosed with renal disease requiring dialysis. After he asked for a change in his work schedule to accommodate his dialysis, CCBCU determined he could not work a different schedule as an accommodation and told the employee to apply and compete for other jobs in the company aligned with his medical restrictions. The employee identified and applied for a job with a schedule allowing him to continue dialysis while working full time. However, even though he was qualified for the position, CCBCU refused to place him into the position, and then terminated him in August 2022.
“Employers must provide employees with disabilities reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship,” said Michel Kirkland, director of the EEOC’s New Orleans Field Office. “The EEOC will diligently investigate, and, if necessary, file suit against employers that violate the rights of their employees.”
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination in employment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Case No. 2:25-cv-02032) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
Elizabeth Owen, a senior trial attorney in the EEOC’s New Orleans Field Office, said, “It is critical for employers to understand that they have an affirmative legal obligation to make reasonable changes to an employee’s work environment to accommodate an employee’s disability. When an employee can no longer perform the essential duties of his current job, reassignment to a vacant position may be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.”
The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s New Orleans Field Office, which is part of the EEOC’s Houston District. The Houston District has jurisdiction over Louisiana and parts of Texas.
For more information on disability discrimination, please visit www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination-and-employment-decisions. For more information on reasonable accommodations, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources/reasonable-accommodation.
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 is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. 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. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.
Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC.gov)
