Fired Black VP sues IBM, says DEI rollback drove her termination

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 days after that, the complaint says, Loomis announced to the organization that the role had not been eliminated at all. A South Asian colleague, Minaz Merali, had been named the new VP of IBM Z Data and AI. Brooks was formally terminated on February 24, 2025. 

The filing places the firings in a wider political context. Brooks alleges that during a regularly scheduled question session, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna was asked about the company’s posture on the Trump administration’s DEI directives. According to the complaint, Krishna replied “of course we will comply,” or words to that effect. Within weeks, Brooks says, Black senior executives began exiting IBM. 

The complaint also alleges a pattern under Senior Vice President Dinesh Nirmal, described in the filing as South Asian. According to Brooks, eight of Nirmal’s ten direct reports were South Asian. The filing alleges that South Asian employees whose roles were eliminated were quietly shifted to new positions, while Black employees were not given the same treatment. Brooks alleges that another senior leader, Ritika Gunnar, said openly that a Black female executive held her job only because of “who she knew.” 

According to the complaint, the pretext narrative continued after her firing. Brooks alleges that Loomis raised performance concerns during her exit interview even though IBM had told her the termination was not performance-based. The filing says Loomis later told colleagues Brooks had not been performing “at the VP level,” and discouraged others from considering her for openings or serving as references.