EEOC sues Coca-Cola distributor over women’s-only work event

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued a Coca-Cola distributor for sex discrimination after it invited only female employees to a two-day employer-sponsored trip and networking event. The suit alleges that Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast Inc. violated federal law by excluding men from the event at the Mohegan Sun and Casino Resort in Connecticut in September 2024. Female employers were paid their normal salaries and weren’t required to use vacation or other paid time off. Acting EEOC General Counsel Catherine L. Eschbach says the company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “has long made the exclusion of one protected class of employees from an employer-sponsored event a violation of the law.”