At Novartis, It's Pregnant Women vs. Cheerleaders Among the Sales Reps

(MoneyWatch)  While the civilized world agreed long ago that firing pregnant women is wrong, it's still a matter of open debate at Novartis (NVS). Thus a pharmaceutical sales rep's recent $579,338 verdict against her employer for firing her after she became pregnant will be seen as a blow for female employees who filed a separate, larger class-action suit against the company six years ago.

Meanwhile, the company's CafePharma board has several threads in which employees continue to argue over whether pregnant women should get out or stand up and fight.

If you're wondering why the drug business has such a neanderthal approach to this issue, it is in part because female drug sales reps have historically been hired based on their "presentation" abilities, which is a euphemism for the fact that management likes hotties -- and, at some companies, actual cheerleaders.

The class action case, Velez et al v. Novartis, has yet to come to trial but a judge has made an omnibus ruling on its pretrial evidence, which is usually one of the last legal steps before a jury is seated.

In both cases women allege they were demoted, got less pay or fired after their bosses saw that they were pregnant. In the March 5 verdict in Washington, D.C., Mary Kate Breeden alleged that after announcing at work she was pregnant her sales territory was cut in half and then eliminated, her job along with it.

The company claimed it was acting on advice of an outside consulting firm that had been asked to rationalize Novartis' sales force. However -- in a classic, oft-repeated management blunder (see here and here) -- the consultants had created a PowerPoint slideshow describing the territory changes that actually mentioned Breeden's pregnancy.

The class action suit contains similar allegations. The 19 representative plaintiffs, several of whom were pregnant, say their jobs and promotions disappeared soon after their bumps became visible. One claims she was subjected to rude remarks about her weight. Another was required to stand through a 30-minute meeting when none of the other staff offered her a chair.

The judge in the case found via a statistical analysis that female Novartis employees earn $75 less per month than their male colleagues after balancing for promotions.

Novartis denies the claims.

Image: The symbol the FDA uses to warn women not to take certain drugs that can harm fetuses. Related:

• Novartis Reps in Civil War Over Whether Pregnant Women Should Be Fired
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