Sunday, April 11, 2010

Employees Coerced into Abortions for Career

A former Novartis saleswoman wept on the witness stand yesterday as she recalled her boss counseling her to get an abortion after she asked for a transfer to move in with her husband-to-be.

-- From "Lawsuit: Drug company Novartis derailed careers of moms-to-be" by Alison Gendar, New York Daily News Staff Writer 4/6/10

Senior sales consultant Christine Macarelli is among the first witnesses who hope to show the drug giant treated women as second-glass citizens.

"Our goal is to make clear the problems these women experienced are systematic of deep problems across the company," said attorney David Sanford.

The class-action suit covers 5,600 Novartis employees who claim the company paid them less than male colleagues and derailed their careers once they became pregnant.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Novartis gal's tale of boss 'abort' pressure" by Bruce Golding, New York Post 4/9/10

"I told Mr. Holstein [abortion] was not an option for me," [Christine Macarelli,] the upstate mother of two testified in Manhattan federal court.

"I was very disturbed. I had to collect myself and decide what to do . . . I felt very alone."

Asked why she never reported Holstein to the company's higher-ups, Macarelli said it was because "I had a co-worker who worked for Bruce, and she complained about him quite a bit, and ultimately she was fired."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.