Company: 'Congrats on the pregnancy, you're fired'
What a difference a year makes. In 2009, this company was listed as one of the best places for mothers to work by Working Mother magazine. This year it’s paying out the nose for its treatment of workers who got pregnant.
Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp., a New Jersey drug company, was ordered to pay $3.3 million in compensatory damages to 12 women by a U.S. district court. In court, the women said the company paid them less than their male counterparts, denied them promotions, treated them unfairly because of their gender and, in some cases, because they got pregnant.
And the good news for Novartis doesn’t stop there. The rest of the 5,600 female sales workers who are part of the class action lawsuit can now file individual claims for damages against the company.
Working Mother lauded Novartis for its “customizable child-care offering” and job-sharing program when it included the company on its “best places to work for mothers” list.
Novartis plans to appeal the court’s decision.
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