(Reuters) - Bradley Gayton, who joined the Coca-Cola Co as general counsel in September and made headlines for requiring its law firms to staff its matters with diverse lawyers or lose its business, has resigned, the beverage giant said in a Wednesday filing.

Gayton will now serve as an outside consultant to Coca-Cola's chief executive, the Atlanta-based company said in a statement and a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Monica Howard Douglas, a 17-year veteran of Coca-Cola who most recently served as chief compliance officer and associate general counsel for its North America operating unit, will take over as general counsel.

Gayton's new consulting agreement is non-exclusive and expires at the end of next April. Under its terms, he is set to receive a lump-sum, $4 million "sign-on make-whole" payment this month and an additional $8 million combined in monthly installments, the filing said.

His compensation package in 2020 totaled more than $4.7 million, Coca-Cola disclosed in a March SEC filing.

Gayton did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn on Wednesday. A representative for Coca-Cola declined to comment beyond the filing and release.

Gayton had worked at Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Motor Co for nearly 30 years, most recently as general counsel, before joining Coca-Cola last year.

He made waves in the legal industry in January as the latest and one of the most prominent in-house leaders to use their spending power to push for increased diversity and inclusion at law firms. Coca-Cola's outside counsel has included King & Spalding, Littler Mendelson and Shook, Hardy & Bacon, among others.

Gayton, who is Black, said in January that firms handling new Coca-Cola matters would have to commit to having at least 30% of billed associate and partner time be from diverse attorneys – people of color, LGBTQ people, women and people with disabilities. At least half of that billed time would have to be from Black lawyers specifically.

Earlier this month Coca-Cola faced the threat of boycotts from activists who said the company needed to do more to oppose a new law that was passed in its home state of Georgia that civil rights groups contend is aimed at suppressing voting among Black people. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey then called the law "unacceptable" and "a step backwards."

Coca-Cola said Wednesday that Gayton had led initiatives "for innovation, diversity and inclusion, including advancing public service through the law" during his time at the company.

"I am confident Bradley will continue to advance these initiatives in his role as a strategic consultant over the next year," Quincey said in a statement, calling Gayton "a strategic and results-oriented leader."

"It has been a privilege to do such important work with my amazing colleagues in the legal department and to be part of Coca-Cola's dynamic leadership team," Gayton said in a statement. "I look forward to working with James in this new strategic role."