Glaxo Fired Executive Who Raised South Africa Race Complaint

GlaxoSmithKline Plc dismissed an executive from its African consumer health-care division for refusing to submit to a performance plan that was initiated a week after he reported alleged racial discrimination to a confidential integrity hotline, company documents obtained by Bloomberg show.

The executive, who was fired on Oct. 3, filed a 17-page report on Aug. 28 to the compliance department through a web portal, alleging that Glaxo’s South Africa consumer health-care division, its most profitable unit on the continent, was a “white island” and restricted black staff from being appointed to senior management positions. Only one of the 21 top managers in the unit is black, the executive said in the report. He asked not to be identified because he is seeking to be reinstated.