For ten straight years “Working Mother” magazine has listed drug maker Novartis among the best 100 companies for working women. Unfortunately for Novartis, a federal jury in New York was not impressed. On May 19, 2010, this jury awarded $250 million in punitive damages to women who have worked as sales representatives or entry-level managers for Novartis dating back to 2002. The plaintiffs had asked the jury to award the class two to three percent of Novartis’s 2009 revenues, and the $250 million figure falls in the middle of that range. With a certified class of close to 5,600 women, the award amounts to close to $45,000 per class member. Earlier in the week, the jury had awarded $3.4 million in compensatory damages to the 12 individuals who served as representative plaintiffs.
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