1. Was the verdict fair?
2. Will this verdict cause other companies to review for and remedy any systematic discrimination uncovered?
3. How should systemic discrimination be prevented?
4. Were the lawyer’s fees fair?
5. Could this case have been successfully prosecuted if it were not a class action?

On May 17, 2010, a federal jury in New York decided that Novartis, a Swiss-headquartered drug company, was guilty of discriminating against women and should pay the 12 women plaintiffs who testified in the trial $3.37 million in compensatory damages.1 Since there were 5,600 women in the class the plaintiffs were arguing on behalf of in the class action lawsuit, the total compensatory damages could have reached $1 billion if two-thirds of the plaintiffs had gone to New York and to state their case.