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Employer Loses Class Action Sex Discrimination Suit
June 22, 2010 by Carrie L. Zochert Last month, a jury found Novartis engaged in discriminatory practices against women and awarded $250 million in punitive damages in one of the largest class action sex discrimination suits. The punitive damages are in addition to the compensatory damages, which could run as high as $1 billion. The lawsuit began in 2004, when 19 present and former female sales representatives filed a class action complaint alleging Novartis discriminated against them in various ways, including compensation, promotion, evaluations and adverse treatment of women who take pregnancy leave. The jury determined that Novartis had engaged in a pattern of discrimination against women. Twelve of the female plaintiffs who testified at trial were awarded $3.36 million in compensatory damages by the jury. The compensatory damages for the remaining class of 5,600 female sales representatives that elect to apply will be determined in separate proceedings. Ironically, Novartis has been named one of the best 100 companies by Working Mother magazine for the last ten years. The decision serves as a reminder to all employers to take prompt corrective action in the face of sex discrimination complaints. To review your discrimination policies, please contact an attorney in the Business and Employment Law department at Larkin Hoffman.
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