From yesterday's New York Times comes a story about the second-largest gender discrimination case (certified as a class) to ever pass court scrutiny. The case involves Novartis Pharmaceuticals and its discrimination against pregnant women and, depending on the outcome, could become a major cultural development.A federal judge has ruled that female drug sales workers for Novartis Pharmaceuticals may proceed with a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit against the company. The women claim the company discriminated against them in pay, promotions and personnel evaluations, sometimes because they were pregnant or had recently given birth.
The decision, released today by United States District Judge Gerard E. Lynch in Manhattan, means that the plaintiffs — 19 current and former female employees in sales-related positions — can represent other women at the company. The class could include 4,000 to 5,000 current and former workers of Novartis dating to 2002...
...Pregnancy discrimination is prohibited by a federal law enacted in 1978. Complaints to the government about such discrimination are increasing, to 4,901 last year, up from 3,977 in 1997, according to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Three of the Novartis plaintiffs, as well as 28 others who submitted affidavits, said that women who became pregnant suffered a variety of poor treatment, including arbitary discipline, denial of promotions, and termination of employment.
“Many attest to specific comments by managers indicating a hostility to pregnancy,” Judge Lynch wrote in his opinion, which was dated Tuesday but released this morning. One woman testified that her manager said he preferred not to hire young females, stating, “First comes love, then come marriage, then comes flex time and a baby carriage.”
Another manager allegedly encouraged a young woman to get an abortion. Yet another woman alleges that employees were urged during a training session to avoid pregnancy. “The declarant, five months pregnant at the time, drew the eye of the trainer, who said, ‘Oops, too late,’ ” Judge Lynch wrote in his opinion...