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Georgia Landmark Legal Settlements

Coke lawsuit
In 2000, Coca-Cola agreed to pay $192 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by African-American employees who sued for racial discrimination. The settlement was the largest ever in a corporate racial discrimination case. Plaintiffs alleged they had suffered discrimination in pay, promotions and performance evaluations. They provided statistics showing that the median salary for African-American employees was roughly one-third less than that of whites within the company. The plaintiffs also claimed that glass ceiling and glass wall policies kept African-Americans from rising to top positions and succeeding in particular departments within the company. Few African-Americans had advanced to senior levels in the company, compared to the significant representation of African-Americans among all salaried employees.

Settlement helps link vaccines to autism
In a 2008 settlement, the United States Department of Health and Human Services concluded that childhood vaccines contributed to the symptoms of a Georgia girl’s autism. Government officials said the family of Hannah Poling, 9, of Athens, Ga., is entitled to compensation from a federal vaccine injury fund, but the amount of money has yet to be determined. In a court document, the government said vaccines aggravated "a rare underlying metabolic condition that resulted in a brain disorder with features similar to autism spectrum disorder."

King siblings finally settle lawsuit over estate
In 2009, the siblings of civil rights giant Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reached a settlement that kept the family’s dispute over his estate a private affair. Martin Luther King III, Bernice King and Dexter King aired their grievances in open court for more than a year. Dexter King was sued by his siblings in July 2008 after being accused of acting improperly as head of their father's estate, which the three descendants control as a private corporation. In the lawsuit, they claimed he shut them out of decisions involving King Inc. and refused to hold a shareholders meeting since 2004.