Five of seven Black executives gone in one round, the complaint says - and a CEO quote sits at the center
A 26-year IBM veteran says her firing was racial discrimination disguised as restructuring - and that DEI rollback was the trigger.
Annette Brooks, the former Vice President of IBM Z Data and AI, sued IBM in the Southern District of New York on May 4, 2026. She alleges the company terminated her because she is Black and handed her job to a South Asian colleague the complaint describes as less qualified. Her filing brings claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981, and seeks at least $1.15 million.
The numbers in the complaint stand out. Brooks says her organization of 20,000 employees had seven Black executives. After IBM's January 2025 restructuring, five were gone, including all three Black Vice Presidents. Brooks was one of them.
She had been at IBM for 26 years. According to the filing, she was never put on a performance improvement plan and earned merit-based bonuses every year she was eligible as an executive, ranging from 53% to 106% of her base salary. As recently as October 2024, the complaint states, her direct supervisor Skyla Loomis told another general manager that Brooks was "unavailable" because "she was needed where she was."
Three months later, Brooks says, the message changed. She alleges Loomis told her on January 21, 2025 that her role had been eliminated, and sent a follow-up email citing "workforce reduction." Eight...
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