One Of Top Companies For Working Moms Must Pay $250 Million For Gender Discrimination

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. must pay $250 million for gender discrimination. The class action lawsuit was filed by 5,600 current and former female sales representatives for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. who charged that the company discriminated against its female employees in pay, promotional opportunities and pregnancy-related issues.

The ruling is in regard to a class-action lawsuit originally filed in 2004. The jury of four men and five women found Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by paying its female sales force less than its male employees and by denying them the same opportunities for promotions as male employees. The jury also found the U.S. unit discriminated against women who became pregnant with respect to terms and conditions of their employment.

It has been reported that The jury at Manhattan's Federal Court was told about the case of Holly Waters, a sales rep who was one of the best in the team and recognized as such by her boss. That all changed when she told him she was expecting - he began punishing her for taking sick days for severe morning sickness and wrongly accused her of falsifying sales calls. With no chance to defend herself, she was fired and lost her health insurance and benefits at a time when she was seven months pregnant.

The Obama administration has been very aggressive when it comes to gender discrimination and equal pay issues. This is one of the hundreds of reasons why it matters who is the President of the United States.