Merck, Black Ex-Director Headed for Discriminatory Firing Trial

Merck must face trial on a Black IT director’s claims that racial bias drove his firing after he ordered the removal of a White contractor from a project, a New York federal judge ruled.

The former director of compliance and risk management has evidence indicating he was similarly situated to two White colleagues who weren’t investigated or disciplined for the incident; this raises fact issues for a jury regarding prima facie discrimination and the legitimacy of the company’s nondiscriminatory explanation for the firing, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said Wednesday. The 2022 lawsuit named ...