It is not uncommon for companies to host networking or mentorship events focused on supporting female employees. In fact, these types of events are often publicized by employers to show their efforts to provide an inclusive workplace. But a new federal lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should cause employers to reconsider events that exclude certain employees while providing benefits to other employees, even where the excluded employees fall within majority rights groups (e.g., men, Caucasian employees, etc.).
Factual background
On February 17, 2026, the EEOC filed a lawsuit in a federal court in New Hampshire against Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, Inc., a producer, seller and distributor of Coca-Cola products. The EEOC contends that Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it hosted a two-day employer-sponsored trip and networking event at a resort in Connecticut for its female employees.
More specifically, the EEOC alleged that Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast privately invited female employees to the event but did not invite any male employees. Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast allegedly excused the female attendees from their normal work duties while paying them their normal wages and did not require the attendees to use vacation or other paid time off to attend the conference. The EEOC also alleged that the female attendees received other benefits, such as hotel rooms, food, and beverages, as part of the event. The EEOC has requested injunctive relief and monetary damages for the alleged Title VII violations.
Employer takeaways
While employers and employment attorneys will continue to watch how the EEOC’s lawsuit against Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast unfolds, the lawsuit does not mean that employers should rush to cancel their efforts to provide programming or events that support their female employees. However, the lawsuit, other EEOC efforts to pursue claims of discrimination for majority rights groups (example: the $1.1 million settlement the EEOC obtained this month with a restaurant group for failing to hire male applicants for certain positions), and EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas’s express call for “white males” to contact the EEOC about potential claims, reinforce the growing shift toward employment discrimination claim filings by members of groups previously unlikely to file such claims.
Employers should accordingly use caution when implementing policies or practices, or even planning events, that exclude any group on the basis of a protected characteristic. This is especially the case where such exclusion is coupled with members of the non-excluded group receiving benefits (e.g., being excused from work with pay and without needing to utilize leave, having room accommodations, food, beverages, and other activities paid for, etc.) where the excluded group receives no such benefits.
