Despite 2000 Legal Settlement, Protesters Say Little Has Changed - Protesters lined Seventh Avenue outside Madison Square Garden today to press criticisms of Coca-Cola Co., which was holding its annual shareholders meeting inside. With labor and environmental activists were dozens of African American Coca-Cola employees who said conditions have not improved at the Atlanta-based company since it agreed in November 2000 to pay $192.5 million to settle a class-action race-discrimination lawsuit and promised to change the way it manages, promotes and treats minority employees.