EMPLOYMENT LAW: Pepsi Agrees to Pay $120,000 as Settlement for Discrimination Suit

August 4, 2011

San Francisco- The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. has agreed to pay about $120,000 as settlement for a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), according to agency's reports today.

Reports said Pepsi has entered mediation with EEOC and agreed to compensate the driver for his losses. The multi-billion company also agreed to comply with the agency’s labor regulations.

Eldridge Davis, the driver, narrated in the suit that he was fired for job abandonment charges though he already informed his superiors about his medical leave request.

Davis told his supervisor about his disability and his need for medical treatment. He also explained that he could not complete his route because he will be under medication. After a while, he received a notice of termination for violation of company attendance policy, said the suit.

As stated in the lawsuit, the 48-year-old worker reported his employer's misconduct to EEOC. The federal agency then filed the disability discrimination complaint against Pepsi in US District Court for the Northern District of California in 2009.

According to EEOC officials, the New York-based company failed to provide reasonable accommodation to the employee and it committed a wrongful termination act. The employer could have easily granted the medical leave request knowing that the qualified employee has followed proper procedure.

Davis had worked for Pepsi Inc. from October 1996 to December 1999. Pepsi operates in the United States and in six other countries. It employs more than 70,000 people and produces more than 1.7 billion cases of cola every year.