Pfizer has agreed to end its fellowship designed exclusively for black, Latino, and Native American applicants as part of its resolution of an anti-DEI lawsuit, in which the plaintiff argued the program illegally discriminated against whites and Asians.
The pharmaceutical giant said it will stop accepting new fellows to the program, according to court documents approved on Friday. The case is now dismissed following the agreement.
Do No Harm, a policy advocacy group that opposes diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine, sued Pfizer in September 2022 for illegally barring whites and Asians from applying for its Breakthrough Fellowship Program. Created in 2021, the program sought to boost the pipeline of black, Latino, and Native American leaders within the drug company. By 2025, Pfizer hoped to train 100 diverse fellows.
The plaintiff alleged Pfizer violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, and human rights laws in New York and New York City.
“Pfizer’s open exclusion of white and Asian-American applicants is illegal. Pfizer is blatantly discriminating against white and Asian-American applicants blocking the creation of contractual relationships solely based on race,” the lawsuit states, citing Section 1981. That federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or ethnicity when making and enforcing contracts.
The suit was filed before the Supreme Court’s affirmative-action decision, which many conservative groups have cited to prove their point that diversity and inclusion has no place in corporate America.
The settlement comes weeks after the Manhattan-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed its previous decision to dismiss the case on the basis that Do No Harm lacked legal standing to challenge Pfizer’s program in court. Last year, the appellate court ruled that the plaintiff needed to name the two members on behalf of which it was suing to have standing.
The two members claimed they were harmed by Pfizer’s racially discriminatory fellowship, per the lawsuit.
Before the Second Circuit’s earlier ruling, a federal court in the Southern District of New York dismissed the case because Do No Harm lacked sufficient standing.
“While Pfizer would like to quietly sweep their unlawful discrimination under the rug, their settlement acknowledges what we said all along: racially discriminatory programs are unlawful and will not go unchallenged,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, who chairs Do No Harm. “For far too long, companies like Pfizer have allowed political ideology to hijack their core responsibilities.”
Meanwhile, Pfizer said it remained “proud” of its adherence to the DEI ideology and maintained Do No Harm’s case had no merit, according to Reuters.
In February 2023, Pfizer changed its criteria to consider applicants “regardless of whether [they] are of Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, or Native American descent” as Do No Harm’s appeal was pending. Despite its concession, the drug manufacturer continued fighting the lawsuit at the time.
While Pfizer continues standing by its DEI efforts, Target and McDonald’s are some companies that have scaled those back in the wake of the new administration.
Friday’s resolution comes as President Donald Trump roots out DEI hiring standards within the federal government and threatens to punish corporations in the private sector if they fail to abandon those practices. In an executive order, he directed federal agencies and the U.S. attorney general to “encourage” companies to abandon their DEI programs and preferences.
Trump appointed Andrea Lucas, a vocal DEI critic, to temporarily lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In her short tenure as acting chairwoman, Lucas has pledged to protect women from sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination by rolling back the Biden administration’s gender-identity agenda. The commission holds the power to prosecute corporate discrimination.