Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Novartis

Legal news reports that a group of women has filed a $110 million class-action discrimination lawsuit against Swiss drugmaker Novartis. The gender discrimination lawsuit is based on claims the company has routinely denied women equal and promotion opportunities. Five years ago, the pharmaceutical company was ordered to pay more than $250 million in a similar gender discrimination action. At the time, this amount represented the largest employment discrimination award ever in the United States.

As a result of this lawsuit, the company vowed to adopt policies and reforms that would both prevent employment discrimination and retaliation against those who complained.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination because of a person’s sex. This means that an employer may not take adverse action against someone because of their gender, whether male, female or even transgender. Your sex cannot play a role in any of your employer’s work-related decisions including – whether to hire, fire, or promote an individual worker.

In this instance, the women alleged that they were discriminated against, and suffered retaliation for complaining about inequities. According to the lawsuit, “For years, the company paid them less than similarly situated men, discriminated against them in assignments and other career-enhancing opportunities, and denied them promotions in favor of … men.”

The case is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

For more information, or if you believe that you may have been discriminated against as a result of your gender, please contact the experienced Atlanta gender discrimination lawyers at Buckley Bala Wilson Mew LLP for an immediate case evaluation.