About 20 employees of Hindustan Coca-Cola Marketing Company Pvt Ltd, the bottling arm and a subsidiary of Coca-Cola India, were dismissed from the company last week. Those dismissed include middle-level executives.
The reason for the dismissal, according to the Coke sources, is discrepancies found in an audit report of Coke's bottling plants prepared by international firm Arthur Andersen.
The audit was conducted in July-August this year. Coke sources said the report revealed malpractices at bottling plants.
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They also said the employees who have been dismissed were not abiding by the company's code of conduct.
A Coke spokesperson confirmed the dismissals, but did not give the reasons.
"The employees were dismissed due to internal problems," the spokesperson said.
According to industry sources, Coke has already dismissed 9 employees from its Delhi I and Delhi II regions, which cover two main depots at Sarita Vihar and Punjabi Bagh.
Meanwhile, Coke has arranged for new officials to take over the positions of the dismissed lot.
It is also learnt that the company will be calling a meeting in the next couple of days on the dismissals issue.
A few of the dismissed employees have already arrived in the capital to attend the meeting and there is a possibility that a few of the dismissed lot would be retained.
Initially, the company had planned to dismiss around 25 employees from its northern region alone.
Meanwhile, the dismissed employees Business Standard talked to feel "cheated" by Coke.
Says a dejected employee at the company's Punjabi Bagh depot, who's been with the company since its inception: "On the evening of November 2, suddenly, I and a couple of other colleagues were asked to tender our resignations. However, no reason was given to us. When requested for one, we were simply told to either resign or that we would be sacked under the breach of the company's code of conduct."
According to him, the company complained that some of these employees did not keep their respective superiors updated with their routine activities.
"This is not true, as my boss has always known what I have been up to," he said. This official says that since he didn't put in his papers, he was dismissed.
The official counters that the internal audit of the company did not point out any discrepancies. Worst still, the employees were given no notices and time to justify themselves.
Another official who has been dismissed endorses: "The company is trying to project the whole incident as a fallout of an audit report but it is not so. We were forced to tender our resignations and the company gave no valid reason for its act."
Some of the dismissed employees are likely to file a petition against Coke if there is no positive outcome for them at the meeting planned by the company.