Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Novartis Must Pay $250 Million in Gender Bias Damages

By David Glovin and Patricia Hurtado

May 19 (Bloomberg) -- A Novartis AG pharmaceuticals unit was ordered to pay $250 million in punitive damages to a group of 5,600 female employees after losing a gender-bias lawsuit.

A federal jury in Manhattan today returned the damages ruling in one of the largest gender-bias lawsuits to reach trial. The same jury on May 17 found the company liable for discrimination and ordered it to pay about $3.4 million in compensatory damages to 12 women named as plaintiffs.

The women are among the Basel, Switzerland-based company’s 14,000 workers in the U.S. They sought between $190 million to $285 million in punitive damages. Jurors found that Novartis had discriminated against women over pay and promotion and because of pregnancy.

“This is a vindication of everything that has happened in the courtroom,” David Sanford, a lawyer for the women, said today. “This sends a message to Novartis and all other corporations in America that they cannot continue to get away with the discrimination and the systemic problems that have occurred for so long.”

Richard Schnadig, a lawyer for Novartis, declined to comment. Novartis said May 17 that it plans to appeal.

In weighing punitive damages, the nine jurors considered the nature and length of Novartis’s conduct, the extent of harm it caused, the company’s actions after learning of allegations of discrimination, and the amount required to deter future bias.

The women covered by the case are sales representatives and entry-level managers who have worked for Novartis since 2002.

The lead plaintiff is Amy Velez, who was hired by Novartis in 1997 as a sales representative in Washington. She worked at the company until 2004, the year the suit was filed.

The case is Velez v. Novartis Corp., 04-cv-09194, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: David Glovin in New York federal court at dglovin@bloomberg.net and; Patricia Hurtado in New York federal court at pathurtado@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 19, 2010 10:39 EDT

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