Key Points
SummaryCompaniesPfizer changed diversity fellowship's criteria after lawsuit was filedDo No Harm claims program still discriminates against white and Asian-American applicants..
Oct 3 (Reuters) - An advocacy group that opposes diversity initiatives in medicine urged a federal appeals court on Tuesday to revive its lawsuit claiming a fellowship program offered by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) to improve diversity at the company discriminates against white and Asian-American applicants...
Two of the 2nd Circuit panel's members, U.S. Circuit Judges Richard Wesley and Beth Robinson, both said they were "struggling" with what weight they should give to the changes in the program when deciding whether to revive the case.. U.S. Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs said allowing discovery in the case could show if "a single person who was not a person belonging to one of underrepresented races was selected" following the changes...
Do No Harm, which says it opposes "radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideologies" in healthcare, sued over Pfizer's Breakthrough Fellowship Program, which aims to increase the pipeline of Black, Latino and Native American leaders at the drugmaker...
Virginia-based Do No Harm's lawsuit alleges the program violates federal laws, including Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a law enacted after the Civil War that guarantees all people the same right to make and enforce contracts "as is enjoyed by white citizens", and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race and other protected characteristics...
