A federal judge has dismissed lawsuits that claimed Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia conspired with paramilitary groups to kill, torture and intimidate people to eliminate labor union activity. The judge asserted he lacked jurisdiction because the complaints in the lawsuits were 'vague.' The lawsuits, filed in 2001 by the Colombian union Sinaltrainal and several workers, accused Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co. and four of its bottling affiliates in Colombia of hiring or conspiring with right-wing paramilitary groups to use violence in an effort to rid the plants of union activity.
See "Claims Against Coke Bottlers Dismissed", Associated Press, The New York Times, October 3, 2006