Twelve female Novartis employees filed the lawsuit, alleging they received less pay than their male counterparts, were promoted less frequently, and had to endure a hostile work environment. The women sought damages from $190 million to $285 million, calculated as two to three percent of the company’s $9.5 billion revenues it made in 2009.

The jury, comprised of five women and four men, agreed, opening the door for more than 5,500 other female employees of Novartis’ United States operations. The multinational company is based in Basel, Switzerland.

Additional employees applying for compensation under the ruling will likely be processed by a court-appointed special master, who will determine their damages on an individual basis. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon will decide a lump sum for back pay, lost benefits, and adjusted wages that will distributed to the plaintiffs. Attorneys handling the case said they were seeking $37 million to cover back pay.

During testimony, an attorney for the original plaintiffs told jurors that “to Novartis, discrimination is one big joke.”

“There was an old boys’ network at Novartis running rampant. The discrimination continues to this very day. Absolutely nothing was ever done to help women at Novartis,” the attorney said.

Evidence brought before the court included the behavior and actions of one district manager who plaintiffs claimed was especially abusive. The man would show them pornographic pictures and ask them to sit on his lap, yet he wasn’t fired until two years after the complaint was filed in 2004.

“He wasn’t that bad a manager. He was just terrible with women,” said Novartis attorney Richard Schnadig – a phrase that helped the jury see that the company and its attorney still had no clue what it had done wrong.

Yet Schnadig urged the jury not to react with emotion after hearing damaging testimony.

“The company is taking everything you said to heart and is going to change,” he said. “Be fair to us.”

Novartis attorneys say they will appeal the verdict.

SOURCE: Fair Labor Standards Act › Jury orders Novartis to pay $250 million for sex discrimination

According to the Palm Beach Post, the plaintiffs alleged that the club “operated an illegal tip pool knowingly” and with “reckless disregard for the law.” Despite their courtroom victory, however, the plaintiffs failed to persuade the jury of those counts.

An attorney for the poker dealers told the Palm Beach Post that a federal judge will determine how much back pay will be awarded to each dealer, estimating that the total amount would reach $130,000 plus attorney’s fees. Most of the plaintiffs are no longer employed at the Kennel Club.

The ruling will likely boost earnings for card dealers in other Florida clubs where money is commonly skimmed from card dealer tips to pay floor supervisors. According to the plantiffs’ attorney, some dealers could go from making $40,000 to $70,000 with full tips.

The attorney told the Post that the club was “stealing the wages that somebody earned. Period. So their bottom line wouldn’t be affected.”

“They were taking from somebody without them knowing it and giving it to somebody who didn’t deserve it,” he told the Post.

Federal labor regulations allow businesses to pay employees less than minimum wage if the employees “customarily and regularly receive tips.” Attorneys representing the dealers successfully argued that because the club paid dealers $3 below the minimum wage, it shouldn’t have claimed tips to compensate supervisors “who had no direct service contact with the public.”

The Palm Beach Kennel Club is an established dog racing track dating back to 1932. The club also offers simulcast racing, a poker room, and dining options.

SOURCE: Fair Labor Standards Act › Card dealers win labor case against Palm Beach club

The store managers, represented in the class action lawsuit Stillman v. Staples, Inc., charged the retail giant with violating the law when it classified them as exempt and then failed to pay them for overtime. The jury agreed with the plaintiffs and found that Staples had acted willfully in breaking the law. The verdict came after a six-week trial. The amount awarded does not include attorneys’ fees and costs, which the plaintiffs may claim pursuant to FLSA laws.

Staples spokesman Paul Capelli said that the company may appeal the jury’s decision. “We firmly believe that we’re fully compliant with the law,” he said.

The lawsuit was one of many collective and class action lawsuits alleging the misclassification of store managers have been filed against Staples. It was also not the first suit filed against Staples for violations of the FLSA. In November 2007, Staples settled a class-action lawsuit in California for $38 million. That suit related to the classification of assistant managers by Staples stores in California and the retail chain’s failure to compensate the managers for overtime work.

SOURCE: Fair Labor Standards Act › Jury sides with plaintiffs in Staples class action lawsuit