Pepsi Settle Racial Discrimination Claims
Pepsi Settle Racial Discrimination Claims
MINNEAPOLIS (CN) - A PepsiCo bottling unit will pay $3.13 million and provide jobs and training to resolve accusations of race discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday.
The settlement by Pepsi Beverages, fka Pepsi Bottling Group, will be divided among black applicants who were denied jobs and the administration of the claims.
The EEOC said the criminal background-check policy the company used discriminated against African-Americans in violation of Title VII the Civil Rights Act, and that more than 300 black applicants were were disproportionately excluded from permanent employment by the policy.
"Under Pepsi's former policy, job applicants who had been arrested pending prosecution were not hired for a permanent job even if they had never been convicted of any offense," the EEOC said.
The policy also denied jobs to applicants who had been arrested or convicted of some minor offenses.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/12/42970.htm
