TOM MURPHY AP Business Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Several current and former Eli Lilly and Co. employees have joined a 2006 federal lawsuit accusing the drugmaker of pay and promotional discrimination against African-Americans. The complaint accuses Indianapolis-based Lilly of paying black employees at lower levels than their white counterparts and denying promotions to them in favor of less-qualified candidates. It also accuses some Lilly employees of using racial slurs when discussing black employees. Lilly said in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing it believes the lawsuit is without merit, and the company plans to “defend against it vigorously.” The lawsuit, originally filed by former employee Cassandra Welch, now lists the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as a lead plaintiff and nine other current and former employees who plan to represent about 2,000 people if the case receives class-action certification. Documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana include declarations from 106 current and former employees around the country detailing discrimination. Rowlett, Texas, resident John Boyd said in one that Lilly has consistently paid him less than “non-African American employees” in similar situations and has held him to a higher standard than white employees. Boyd is a neuroscience senior care sales representative. He also said the drugmaker’s white managers chose white employees for training that positions them for promotions. “If I wanted additional training, I had to request it, and it took me many years to receive the same opportunities that white employees were offered in just one or two years,” the declaration said. Last year, Lilly agreed to pay $64,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of withholding severance pay to force a longtime employee to withdraw a discrimination charge. That employee, Starr E. Johnson, is not named in the latest court complaint. Johnson, a black woman, worked for Lilly for more than 23 years before she was fired in 2005, weeks after filing a discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.