Pfizer’s diversity fellowship under scrutiny in job bias case
A group representing white and Asian American applicants will try to persuade a federal appeals court in Manhattan to revive its challenge to a Pfizer Inc. fellowship program designed to build a diverse workforce.
Do No Harm, an advocacy membership group of health care professionals, students and policymakers, will participate in oral arguments Tuesday before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in its bid to shut down the pharmaceutical giant’s diversity program on the ground that it violates federal civil rights laws and the Affordable Care Act.
The case gives the 2nd Circuit the opportunity to clarify the legal issue of whether a plaintiff organization must identify at least one member by name in order to have standing to sue.
But at its core the dispute concerns corporate diversity, equity and inclusion practices that critics say are racially discriminatory.
The arguments come amid increasing legal threats and lawsuits by conservative groups to stop DEI programs, which were bolstered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision curtailing the use of race as a factor in college admissions.
The high court case concerned race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. But legal scholars told Bloomberg Law at the time that the ruling will have a downstream effect on businesses by disrupting DEI practices and inviting challenges to these programs under the federal and state laws that govern them.
Most recently, the 11th Circuit temporarily blocked the application window for a grant program that provides financial support and mentorship to Black womenowned businesses because the “racially exclusionary program” is substantially likely to violate Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act’s “guarantee of race neutrality” in making contracts.
A federal judge last December denied Do No Harm’s request for a preliminary injunction to bar Pfizer from going forward with selecting its 2023 fellowship class while the case plays out.
Launched in 2021, Pfizer’s multi-year Breakthrough Fellowship Program targets students of Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American descent to address challenges by the company to recruit, retain and promote a diverse talent pipeline. It aims to enroll 100 fellows by 2025.
Judge Jennifer Louise Rochon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the case without prejudice for lack of standing because Do No Harm failed to identify by name at least one member who is or will be harmed by the program’s alleged racial bias.
The group’s complaint anonymously mentioned two members, but neither of them actually applied for the Pfizer fellowship, the judge said.
The 2nd Circuit hasn’t yet considered the question, but other federal appeals courts — the 11th, 9th, 7th, 6th and 1st circuits — that have recently addressed the naming requirement “have repeatedly held that ‘an affidavit provided by an association to establish standing is insufficient unless it names an injured individual,’ ” Rochon said.
At least three district courts within the 2nd Circuit have also backed that conclusion, she said.