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Court revives lawsuit against Pfizer's ( PFE ) diversity

fellowship

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Group claims Pfizer ( PFE ) program discriminates against white,

Asian-American applicants

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Pfizer ( PFE ) defends diversity efforts, lawsuit follows Supreme

Court

ruling on race-conscious policies

By Nate Raymond

Jan 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday

revived a lawsuit by a conservative group opposed to diversity

initiatives in medicine that challenged a Pfizer ( PFE )

fellowship program designed to boost the pipeline of Black,

Latino and Native American people in leadership positions at the

drugmaker.

At the urging of the group Do No Harm, a 2-1 panel of the

New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revisted a

decision it issued last year holding the organization lacked

legal standing to challenge the drugmaker's program in court.

That earlier decision had raised the bar for groups like Do

No Harm to pursue similar cases on behalf of their membership by

finding that they needed to identify members who were affected

by the alleged discrimination they were suing over by name.

Do No Harm and other conservative advocacy groups had urged

the 2nd Circuit to reconsider that holding, which they said

would chill civil rights litigation by exposing individuals to

harassment and retaliation if their identities were revealed.

The 2nd Circuit panel that issued that decision agreed to

reconsider it, and on Friday concluded a trial court judge

applied too strict of a standard in assessing whether Do No Harm

had standing and should reconsider the issue.

Pfizer ( PFE ) in a statement said Do No Harm's claims were without

merit and would be addressed at the lower-court level. The

company said it was "proud of its commitment to diversity,

equity, and inclusion."

Virginia-based Do No Harm, which is a non-profit that counts

doctors, medical students and others as members and aims "to

protect healthcare from radical, divisive and discriminatory

ideologies," had no immediate comment.

Do No Harm sued Pfizer ( PFE ) in 2022 over the company's

Breakthrough Fellowship Program, which aimed to increase the

pipeline of Black, Latino and Native American leaders in the

company, arguing it discriminated against white and

Asian-American applicants.

The lawsuit was filed a month before the U.S. Supreme Court

heard arguments in cases in which its conservative majority

would later declare unlawful race-conscious college admissions

policies used by Harvard University and the University of North

Carolina.

That June 2023 decision, while focused on college

admissions, has prompted a wave of lawsuits challenging

diversity programs at companies, some of which have since

altered their policies.

Walmart and McDonald's are among the companies that have

recently backed away from diversity practices following pressure

from conservative activists.

Do No Harm challenged Pfizer's ( PFE ) program on behalf of two

anonymous white or Asian-American members the group claimed were

not able to apply to the fellowship, alleging it violated

federal anti-discrimination laws.

The program's criteria has since been changed to allow

anyone to allow apply.