Pfizer resolves conservative challenge to diversity fellowship program


Jan 31 (Reuters) – Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab has resolved a lawsuit by a conservative group that alleged that a fellowship program that the drugmaker established to boost the pipeline of Black, Latino and Native American people in leadership positions at the company unlawfully discriminated against white and Asian-American applicants.

According to papers, opens new tab filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court, Pfizer will stop accepting new fellows and has already opened its program to applicants regardless of their race after being sued in 2022 by Do No Harm, an advocacy group opposed to diversity initiatives in medicine.

The settlement came after the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Jan. 10 reversed a judge’s decision to dismiss the case and gave Do No Harm a new shot at establishing that it had the necessary legal standing to pursue the litigation.

Read more in Reuters.