Novartis Trial Over Sex Discrimination To Begin
1 CommentBy Ed Silverman // April 5th, 2010 // 7:25 am
A class-action lawsuit alleging the drug maker discriminated against thousands of female sales reps is headed to trial this week as 17 current and former sales reps seek at least $200 million in damages for themselves and more than 5,000 colleagues. They allege Novartis subjected them to sexual discrimination in pay, job evaluations, promotional opportunities and pregnancy-related matters, along with sexual harassment and retaliation (back story). The suit, which was filed in 2004, charges women were paid an average of $75 less each month than men (here’s the lawsuit).
The allegations also include some rather remarkable remarks made to the women: former senior sales consultant Christine Macarelli, claimed a manager encouraged her to get an abortion; former sales rep Jennifer Ryan Tselikis charged her manager told her he didn’t like hiring young women because “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes flex time and a baby carriage.” Former sales rep Ramona Pouncy alleged she was told she didn’t qualify for a raise because she “had not been in her territory during maternity leave.”
Novartis has steadfastedly denied the charges. Jury selection begins on Wednesday, as The New York Post notes.
pic thx to 3neus on flickr
Not to be mentioned.
I salute those medical reps who took this initiative. Many Pharmaceutical companies are practicing the same, in all countries, especially in 3rd world countries, but their employed medical reps dont raise their voice because they are afraid of loosing their jobs.
For instance, in Pakistan, GlaxoSmithKline a UK based multinational pharmaceutical company’s big bosses always prefer young girls to hire for Assistant Product Manager job and they alway do this. They never hire young boys or men for this job. Another discrimination this dompany is doing in Pakistan is that it gives prefrence in pays and benifits to new hired field force girls over boys. The company provides cars and higher basic pay to field force girls. Whereas when they hire boys for field force they give them one grade lesser, no car and lesser basic pay than girls of the same age, education and IQ. Both the girls and boys apply against same newspaper add, have same age, same education and pass the same entrance test but they are paid and given fringe benifits discriminately.
There is no one in Pakistan to ask this pharmaceutical company that why the H.R of this company doing such criminal gender discrimination?