Jury Finds Novartis Liable for Female Employee Discrimination Complaints
May 18, 2010 — -- A drug company lauded for being one of the best places to work for mothers has been found guilty of discriminating against female employees, paying them less than their male counterparts and denying them promotions.
The U.S. District Court on Monday ordered the New Jersey-based Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. to pay $3.3 million in compensatory damages to 12 women who claimed in court that the company treated them unfairly because they were women and, in some cases, because they got pregnant.
Today, the court is set to determine how much in the company is responsible for in punitive damages.
The rest of the 5,600 female sales employee who are part of the class action lawsuit can now also file individual claims for damages.
The drug company is best known for its products like Lamisil, Ritalin and Theraflu.
Novartis has been at the top of several publications "best employers" lists, noteably that of Working Mother magazine which has included the company on its 100 Best Companies list for the past four years.
In the October 2009 issue of Working Mother, Novartis was praised for its job-sharing programs and "customizable child-care offerings."
But at least one mother involved in the class action suit claimed that she was told she was not "eligible" for the job-share program after she requested to work part-time to allow her time to bond with her recently adopted daughter.
Another plaintiff said that women felt they were "scrutinized" about their child care arrangements by managers, whereas male employees were not.
