The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a Colombian trade union and the estate of a
worker allegedly murdered by paramilitary forces in Colombia, also names as
a defendant Panamerican Beverages Inc. of Miami, Florida, which through a
subsidiary operates the Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia.


Lawyers for the union and the International Labor Rights Fund said the suit
alleged Atlanta-based Coca-Cola failed to ensure that workers at the plants
were protected against persecution of trade unionists.


"This case involves the systematic intimidation, kidnapping, detention and
murder of trade unionists in Colombia, South America, at the hands of
paramilitaries working as agents of corporations doing business in that
country," the lawsuit said.


Officials at Panamerican Beverages referred calls for comment to the
company's unit in Colombia.


A spokesman for Coca-Cola in Atlanta on Thursday denied any wrongdoing by
the company and said Coca-Cola did not itself run bottling plants in
Colombia.


The lawsuit said the persecution of trade unionists in Colombia had been
"at epidemic proportions" for years, with more than 3,800 unionists
murdered since 1986 when the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia
was formed.


The case was brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act and U.S. racketeering
statutes. It was assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul Huck in Miami.


"With respect to their business operations in Colombia, the Defendants
hired, contracted with or otherwise directed paramilitary security forces
that utilized extreme violence and murdered, tortured, unlawfully detained
or otherwise silenced trade union leaders of the union representing workers
at Defendants' facilities," the lawsuit said.


Attorneys for United Steelworkers of America said the aim of the lawsuit
was to push Coca-Cola and other companies doing business in Colombia to
prevent violence against trade unionists.