Former Nephron executive alleges wrongdoing in new lawsuit
Hostility, racial discrimination and unreported lost fentanyl are among accusations made in lawsuit filed by a former executive at Nephron Pharmaceuticals, a drug manufacturing giant located in West Columbia.
Nola Grant, who had been Nephron’s chief human resources officer from October 2022 until April 2025, claims in a June 16 complaint that she was subjected to hostility, retaliation and racial discrimination, according to the lawsuit, and was ultimately wrongfully terminated from Nephron. According to the lawsuit, it was because she refused to falsify records audit data, reported the company’s failure to report the loss of fentanyl and indicated her intent to alert regulatory agencies.
Nephron spokesman Zach Pippin declined to comment on the lawsuit.
What are the lawsuit’s allegations?
According to the lawsuit, Nephron officials were aware of lost fentanyl and did not report it.
As a pharmaceutical manufacturer registered by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Nephron is legally required to report any significant loss or theft of controlled substances, including fentanyl. But Nephron did not report the lost fentanyl, the lawsuit alleged, even when Grant brought it to the company’s attention. No corrective action was taken, and she was retaliated against.
Lou Kennedy, Nephron’s chief executive officer, also asked Grant to falsify data to be submitted during a compliance audit, according to the lawsuit. Grant refused.
Grant also raised concerns about Nephron’s use and storage of the “Calhoun Warehouse.” According to the lawsuit, a Nephron official admitted that Kennedy had made false statements to the FDA regarding its ”late-night clearing and hauling off of the entire contents of the Calhoun Warehouse,” undertaken in anticipation of FDA inquiry.
According to the lawsuit, Nephron allegedly provided the FDA with altered surveillance footage when the agency requested to review the preceding twenty-four hours of the facility’s footage. If substantiated, it could constitute the destruction and concealment of evidence and the submission of altered records to a federal regulatory agency, which could carry both criminal and civil proceedings, the lawsuit said.
Each time Grant complained of illegal conduct, reported regulatory violations, or indicated her intent to report the Nephron’s wrongdoing to governmental authorities, the company’s representatives would remind Grant of her NDA, the lawsuit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, it was an attempt to silence and intimidate her from being a whistleblower and prevent her from reporting company violations to the Food and Drug Administration, the DEA and other federal agencies.
Another allegation in the lawsuit said Kennedy subjected Grant to a pattern of “severe and pervasive racially discriminatory and hostile conduct,” which included screaming and calling her a liar. Kennedy also allegedly disclosed “confidential medical information” to Grant’s direct reports.
Grant, who is identified as an African American woman in the lawsuit, was the only Black executive at the company during her tenure.
In one instance in October 2024, Kennedy got within 10 inches of Grant’s face, screamed accusations at her and stormed out during a compliance audit response, according to the lawsuit. On at least two occasions, Kennedy “aggressively” approached Grant in Nephron’s parking lot, “screaming and yelling at her in an unprofessional manner.”
Kennedy’s hostile conduct was reported to company officials, but Nephron took no action.
Grant also accused Nephron of attempting to get a hold of her medical information after she slipped and rolled her ankle on the company’s premises.
The State has reached out to Adrianne Turner, Grant’s attorney.
Grant is asking for a judge to grant declaratory judgment for the claims related to workplace discrimination, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and state and federal whistleblower protections, according to the lawsuit. She is also asking for back pay and lost compensation, as well as front pay and future economic damages to be determined at a trial. Grant is further seeking punitive damages, damages for emotional distress, humiliation, invasion of privacy and damage to her professional reputation.
The lawsuit also asks for an order to void any part of Grant’s NDA that prohibits her from reporting illegal conduct to government authorities.
Attorney’s fees are also among Grant’s requests.
Nephron has battled issues for years
Nephron, one of the largest employers in the Midlands, has faced significant scrutiny in recent years.
A fall 2025 inspection report by the FDA revealed the company didn’t have the necessary systems in place to ensure its products are made in a sterile environment and that the company has failed to properly address issues with sterility issues. It noted manufacturing issues, including failing to have production procedures that assure the identity and quality of drug products and quality control responsibilities were not fully followed, The State reported.
The lack of management and oversight created an “unacceptable risk of microbial ingress and contamination of sterile products,” the report said. Regulators said it “undermines sterility assurance and patient safety.”
Some of the inspectors’ observations were ongoing problems, and had been noted in reports from 2023 and 2024, and as early as 2019, The State reported.
The FDA’s report also followed two separate letters in 2022, in which the agency warned Nephron that it was violating federal laws. That year, the company voluntarily recalled more than 2 million drug doses over concerns about sterility. Nephron also received a warning letter in 2020 for false and misleading drug marketing.
Nephron issued some 20 recalls for its products since 2012, according to data from the FDA.
“Only after the FDA’s inspection did you perform additional investigation,” the agency wrote. “Your lack of timely and comprehensive investigation failed to identify the extent of the cross-contamination hazard to marketed drug products.”
