Pepsi to pay out in race discrimination case
Jan
16
Written by:
16/01/2012 16:08
On 11th January 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that PepsiCo Inc’s biggest bottling unit agreed to pay $3.13 million and offer jobs and training to resolve charges that the company discriminated against blacks.
The settlement by Pepsi Beverages Co. will be divided among black applicants denied jobs at the unit, previously known as Pepsi Bottling Group, and will cover costs to make the payments.
The U.S. investigation found that Pepsi’s criminal background-check policy discriminated against blacks in violation of the Civil Rights Act. The EEOC found that Pepsi Beverage’s background checks denied employment to applicants who had been arrested or convicted of certain minor offenses, or were awaiting prosecution without prior convictions.
During the investigation, Pepsi adopted a new criminal background-check policy.
More than 300 blacks were were affected by the policy.
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