Pfizer, the renowned multinational pharmaceutical giant, was slapped with a lawsuit for excluding Whites and Asians from the Breakthrough Fellowship Program. A medical advocacy organization, Do No Harm has termed the program as "discriminatory" and cited the violation of five civil rights as the reason for filing the lawsuit. There is an ongoing speculation on social media over the pharma giant losing the government funding in future.
This particular program offers summer internships followed by two years of employment post- college and scholarship to the rising Black, Latino and Native American college seniors.
Discriminatory Act
A large number of social Media followers have appreciated Do No Harm for filing a lawsuit against the Pharma giant adding that the fellowship should be offered on the basis of a a medical record and not on the basis of race or color.
Race Criteria
It is noteworthy that the title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act clearly prohibits race discrimination in federally funded entities. Moreover, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act forbids race discrimination in federally funded health care programs.
A report published by The Washington Free Beacon stated that Pfizer is a beneficiary of the reimbursements from the government which indicates that the company could lose federal money if it does not change its application criteria, which explicitly restrict the Breakthrough Fellowship to "Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American" students.
A faction of social media followers lambasted Pfizer for promoting racial discrimination in a field which should purely work on merit and ethics. They also said that it was unfortunate that deserving students were being deprived of the fellowship as they do not meet the "race criteria".
A Twitter user wrote, "A federal lawsuit against Pfizer says a fellowship program bars Asians and whites. This diversity obsession is due to our sub-standard education in minority areas. There is NO reason why minorities cannot compete on a level field with proper education."Pfizer fellowship whites asians
Another user shared, @pfizer, This is shameful, and illegal on its face. What were you thinking? A federal lawsuit against Pfizer says a fellowship program bars Asians and whites."
