A trio of Covington, Ga., convenience-store owners has uncorked a class action suit against the Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. and a local business association composed largely of Indian and Pakistani merchants, claiming that special discounts and rebates offered only to the group amount to illegal racial discrimination.
Terry Wilson, owner of Wilson’s Grocery and the lead plaintiff in the case, said he was first made aware of the special offers to members of the Atlanta Retailers Association (ARA) by his Coca-Cola Co. representative, who told him about the “great deals” being offered to association members. Upon inquiring with his Pepsi representative, he was told that ARA members were indeed offered $3-per-case discounts for Pepsi products, and $1,000 rebates if they installed Pepsi displays in their stores.
