Dive Brief:
- IBM has been sued for at least the second time in less than a year for allegedly firing an African American executive because of her race and allegedly in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to end employment-related DEI programs, according to a lawsuit filed May 4 in a New York federal court.
- In Brooks v. International Business Machines Corp., the plaintiff alleged that at the time of her termination, she served as vice president of IBM Z Data and AI. She claimed she was one of three Black vice presidents in her division, all of whom were laid off in February 2025, and one of seven Black executives, five of whom were laid off. This allegedly resulted in the largest number of Black execs being removed at one time during her 26 years with the company, according to the lawsuit.
- The plaintiff sued IBM for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As evidence her termination was a pretext for race discrimination, she alleged her supervisor initially told her that her role had been eliminated and she was being terminated due to a workforce reduction, but then announced that one of her direct reports, a person of South Asian descent, was taking her place.
Dive Insight:
In an email to HR Dive, an IBM spokesperson stated that, “These allegations are baseless, as race played no role in the decision to end this individual’s employment. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated by IBM and is entirely inconsistent with our culture and values.”
The executive’s allegations resemble many of those raised by a former IBM product management director who sued IBM in October 2025.
For example, similar to the October complaint, the executive alleged that following President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order directing federal agencies and federal contractors to end DEI programs, IBM removed “several high profile African American employees,” despite having “no performance-based reason to terminate” them, to appease the Trump administration and retain favored status for securing large federal contracts.
Additionally, the executive in Brooks alleged that the general manager of her division was South Asian and “conspicuous[ly]” preferred South Asian employees, such as by approving a 100% bonus payout and generous stock award for one of her direct reports with documented performance issues, a payout and an award that was significantly more than she received.
As IBM faces complaints of alleged anti-DEI bias against Black employees, it has also had to defend allegations that its DEI programs discriminated against White workers.
In July 2025, IBM settled allegations by a White male who had worked in its consulting division. He claimed that despite consistently receiving positive reviews, he was suddenly placed on a performance improvement plan in 2023 and then terminated as a pretext to further IBM’s diversity goals.
Earlier this year, IBM agreed to pay more than $17 million to settle allegations by the Department of Justice that its DEI programs violated the False Claims Act and did not comply with antidiscrimination requirements for federal contractors, the DOJ announced in April.
