EQUALITY MYTH

Supposedly One of the “Best Companies” for Women Ordered to Pay $250 Million in Fees for Discrimination

Well, then. Despite making Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies list for four years straight, Novartis Pharmaceuticals was found guilty of discrimination against its female employees earlier this week, and today the company was ordered to pay $250 million in punitive damages to its 5,600 female employees—the largest ever employment discrimination verdict.

The women said that they were scrutinized about their child care arrangements, paid less than their male colleagues, and one was even fired when she was seven months pregnant, despite being the highest-ranking sales rep in the district.

We wish charges like this surprised us, but we know this sort of thing happens all the time. The only really unusual part is that the women sued—and won. Hopefully, the price-tag attached to the verdict is enough to send a real message.

In the comments section of ABC’s story, readers are calling out other companies where similar discrimination is rampant. Namely godaddy.com and Dillard’s. So what are some of the other worst offenders? And why are they managing to fool places like Working Mother?

And ladies of Novartis, especially the twelve responsible for the lawsuit, congratulations! Now go celebrate. We recommend the Palm Court.

Wow. Wal-Mart to Face Massive Class-Action Suit Over Pay Gap

A sharply divided federal appeals court exposed Wal-Mart to billions in legal damages when it ruled on Monday that a massive class action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination can go to trial.

In its 6-5 ruling, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the world’s largest private employer will have to face charges that it pays women less than men for the same jobs and that female employees receive fewer promotions and have to wait longer for those promotions than male counterparts.

Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote a blistering dissent, joined by four of her colleagues. “No court has ever certified a class like this one, until now. And with good reason,” Ikuta wrote. “In this case, six women who have worked in 13 of Wal-Mart’s 3,400 stores seek to represent every woman who has worked in those stores over the course of the last decade — a class estimated in 2001 to include more than 1.5 million women.”

Thanks to Slark Pope for bringing this to our attention. UPDATE: Read the fresh ABC story on the case here.