Women employees win US discrimination trial

A US jury found drug company Novartis guilty of discrimination against its women employees, the Wall Street Journal reports. A group of current and former sales representatives won a class action claim that women in the sales force were denied the same opportunities for pay and promotions that the men received. Their lawyer, David Sanford, said the system for evaluating employees in the U.S. unit "comes down to the whims and moods of that employee's manager".

The jury awarded $3.37 million in compensatory damages to the 12 plaintiffs, with punitive damages to be paid to the class, which could include up to 5,600 current and former women employees. Novartis is said to be "disappointed" in the verdict and considering an appeal.  There must be quite a few companies nervously eyeing the result.