Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 4-20-18

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Coke Florida Counter Sues Former President
Last month, Reginald Goins, President and COO at Coca-Cola Beverage Florida was fired on March 6th. Goins’ de- parture was announced inter- nally in December. Days after his termination, he filed a law- suit in Hillsborough County against Troy Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Coke Florida, and the company. Goins is alleging that he is owed at least $42.8 million.
In a turn of events, earlier this month, Coke Florida and CEO Taylor filed a counter lawsuit against Goins, alleging he breached his contract by dis- closing confidential information.
Coke Florida contends that it is the only jurisdiction in which litigation can be pursued under those contractual agreements.
The company is asking the Delaware courts to issue an in- junction, forbidding Goins from moving forward with his lawsuit in Hillsborough County.
The company also stated in the lawsuit that Goins does not have any ownership stake and is not entitled to any compensa- tion. The lawsuit is also request- ing that Goins be ordered to pay the company an undisclosed
Coke Florida CEO, Troy Taylor, left, and former president and COO, Reginald Goins in a 2016 interview about Coke Florida.
come a Coke bottler took 20 years to acquire.
Taylor and Goins met 7 years ago. Goins says that when he expressed an interest in becoming a bottler, he was told, “‘You can do it, but you need somebody with some money.’ I was matched with Troy.”
They say they hit it off im- mediately, Goins said.
The two began to put to- gether a management and oper- ations plan for a new franchise bottler.
In the course of pursuing a franchise, Taylor and Goins met numerous times with groups of Coca-Cola executives to cement relationships and build confidence in their ability to operate and grow a bottler and market the company’s nu- merous products.
In February 2014, the com- pany announced it would sell the franchise territory in central Florida to Taylor. The deal closed in May 2015, and Coca- Cola Beverages Florida began operations that month.
In April 2016, Coca-Cola Beverages Florida acquired four production facilities in Florida — bottling plants in Hollywood, Jacksonville, Orlando and
Tampa.
By the end of 2017, the fran-
chise controlled the production, sales and distribution of Coca- Cola products — more than 750 beverages — in all of Florida east and south of the Tallahas- see area.
The company grossed more than $1 billion in revenue and employs more than 5,000 work- ers at 16 sales and distribution centers and four bottling plants throughout the state — making it the fifth-largest independent U. S. bottler and the third- largest privately held bottler in the U. S.
That level of revenue will place it among the top 55 largest privately owned firms in Florida.
Goins, a Chicago native with a finance degree from Morehouse and an MBA from Prairie View A&M, worked at Coke for 12 years in various fi- nance, planning, customer management and marketing roles before becoming vice pres- ident for sales operations in Ohio and Kentucky, where he managed all sales and opera- tions for the region.
amount for damages.
Goins filed a lawsuit against
the company in March.
On April 6th, Coke Florida
also filed a motion in Hillsbor- ough County asking for dis- missal or a stay in Goins’ lawsuit.
Hillsborough County judge, Scott Stephens will hear Coke Florida’s motion on June 25th.
Brief History Of The Franchise And How The Two Men Came Together
In a 2016 interview, Taylor, the chair and CEO of Coca-Cola
Beverages Florida said owning a Coca-Cola Bottling franchise wasn’t an everyday transaction — “rarer than the sale of a major sports franchise.”
Less than four years ago, Taylor acquired the rights to the sales, manufacturing and distribution of Coke products for most of Florida, and founded Coca-Cola Beverages Florida.
During the acquisition of the franchise, Taylor was paired- up with Goins, an 18-plus year veteran of the Coca- Cola sys- tem.
Goins became Coca-Cola Beverages Florida’s president and COO.
Taylor’s ambition to be-
Taylor grew
Lafayette, La., and earned a fi- nance and business law degree from Marshall University. He had worked in finance for a number of banks. His first taste of the Coke system, he says, was working on deals involving in- dependent bottlers with Coca- Cola Enterprises.
After leaving banking, Tay- lor founded a private invest- ment and advisory firm in Houston.
He had worked as a consult- ant to Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Enterprises just before it sold its North America operations to Coca-Cola in 2010.
The Sentinel contacted the Coca-Cola company, but had not received a response at press time.
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