Eli Lilly: Managing Workplace Diversity and Coping with the Accusations of Racial Discrimination

Lilly was founded by Colonel Eli Lilly (Col. Lilly), a pharmacist and a veteran of the American Civil War. In 1876, Col. Lilly began the business by opening a small laboratory in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, and manufacturing pharmaceutical products. The business ran successfully under the innovative process adopted for making gelatin-coated pills.

In 1886, Col. Lilly hired Ernest Eberhardt to work at Lilly and together they laid the foundation for the company (Refer to Exhibit II for the mission, vision, and core values at Lilly). After Col. Lilly's death in 1898, his son, Josiah K. Lilly Sr. (Josiah) took charge of the company. In 1907, Josiah's elder son, Eli Lilly joined the company...

On April 20, 2006, a class action lawsuit was filed with the US District Court, Southern District of Indiana, by four black employees who had worked at Lilly. The lawsuit charged the company with being hostile and biased against them because of their race.

Lilly was accused of discriminating against the black employees on the basis of race and denying them fair wages, promotions, and performance evaluations (Refer to Box I for the plaintiffs'allegations against Lilly)...