Pfizer company logo is seen at a Pfizer office in Puurs, Belgium, December 2, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna Geron Acquire Licensing Rights
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.
A lawyer for the non-profit Do No Harm urged the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to conclude a lower-court judge got it wrong by determining it lacked standing to challenge the drugmaker’s program.
“Pfizer has created a prestigious, lucrative program that flatly excludes students based on their race,” the lawyer, Cameron Norris of Consovoy McCarthy, argued.
But a lawyer for Pfizer said Do No Harm had put forward only “threadbare” allegations to establish standing through some of its white and Asian students members who claimed they were ready and able to apply to be fellows.
Regardless, Pfizer has since made clear starting with 2023’s class of fellows that anyone of any race could apply as long as they are juniors in college and meet other non-race based criteria, Samantha Chaifetz of DLA Piper said.
“They brought this suit because they thought they would be categorically excluded,” she said. “They weren’t excluded.”
Norris countered that the “program is only nominally race neutral” as it is likely still factoring in race because it still had the goal of increasing the pipeline of Black, Latino and Native American leaders at the drugmaker.
“They’re continuing the illegality because the program is only nominally race neutral,” he said.
Two of the 2nd Circuit panel’s members, U.S. Circuit Judges Richard Wesley and Beth Robinson, both said they were “struggling” with what…
Read the full article here