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By Kent Larsen
LDS Exec Named to Coke Diversity Task Force
ATLANTA, GEORGIA -- M. Anthony Burns, an LDS Church member and chairman of
Ryder Systems, has been named to an oversight task force that will ensure
Coca-Cola Co. compliance with a racial discrimination lawsuit settlement.
Burns will serve a four-year term as one of seven members of the task force,
which will issue annual reports to Coke, the court and the plaintiffs in the
lawsuit. He resigned last November as CEO of Ryder Systems, but remains the
company's Chairman.
The task force was set up to meet the requirements of a $192.5 million
settlement that resolved claims by a group of black workers that the company
discriminated against them in pay, promotion and performance appraisals. The
task force, which will receive compensation from Coca-Cola, will meet for
the first time at an orientation later this summer. They will then decide
how often they need to meet to issue an annual report on the company's
compliance with the settlement.
In addition to Burns, the task force includes another executive, several
lawyers specializing in employment law and discrimination and a diversity
consultant. It is headed by former US Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman.
The 57-year-old Burns, Ryder's third CEO, changed Ryder during his 17-year
tenure from a truck rental company into a provider of sophisticated
logistics and transportation solutions. The company now earns more than $5
billion a year in revenue, while in the process garnering praise from both
its customers and its employees.
Burns has also served recently as president of the LDS Church's Homestead
Stake and is active in the community, raising millions for a proposed
performing arts center in Miami and serving on the Boards of the Boy Scouts
of America and of the University of Miami. He also has made Ryder a
responsible corporate citizen; after he became CEO, Ryder started a
charitable giving program, setting aside 3/4 of 1% of pretax earnings. That
giving has led to, among other things, $9 million toward a new arena on the
University of Miami campus, which will be called the Ryder Center.
Source:
Coke completes diversity task force
Atlanta GA Journal-Constitution 3Jul01 B2
By Henry Unger: Staff
Coke, race suit plaintiffs name task force members
Reuters 2Jul01 B2
See also:
LDS CEO Tony Burns to Retire November 1
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