Novartis to Pay $3.3 Million for Retaliatory Firing of Whistleblower

An appellate court has upheld a jury’s verdict of $1.8 million and a judge’s award of $1.5 million in attorney fees for a former Novartis employee fired after she blew the whistle on a proposed cancer drug study that she believed was an illegal kickback.

Min Amy Guo raised objections to a proposed study to examine the off-label use of a certain medication for breast cancer, believing that the study would violate federal anti-kickback law. Although her supervisor told her to “back off”, Guo did not, and her report eventually led to an internal investigation.

In the meantime, the proposed study was dropped but the investigation continued, uncovering a number of violations of company policy by Guo and other employees.  While the investigation was being conducted, Guo received a positive performance review and a bonus, and was given expanded responsibilities.  After the investigation, retraining and other disciplinary measures were recommended for everyone involved except Guo, who was fired.  Guo’s supervisors tried to get the decision changed, but were unsuccessful.  Guo sued for retaliation. 

At trial, the jury rendered a verdict for Guo of $1,816,040 and the judge then awarded her an additional $1,531,434.54 in attorney fees and costs under the state whistleblower law.  Novartis tried to show that it had legitimate business reasons for treating Guo more harshly than the other workers who had committed similar violations but, as the appellate court noted, “The jury was not bound to simply accept defendant’s evidence, considerable though it may have been, at face value…There was enough for the jury to determine that the retaliation and not plaintiff’s misconduct was the reason plaintiff was terminated.”

On appeal, both sides took issue with Guo’s attorney fee award.  Novartis said it was excessive, while Guo argued that the trial judge improperly limited the amount. But the appellate panel rejected both positions and found that the fee award was well within the trial judge’s discretion.

Guo v. Novartis Pharm. Corp., 2022 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1336 (App. Div. 2022)

What would a respectful workplace do?   

Rather than tell a whistleblower “Back off”, say “Thank you!”  Without the brave actions of workers who object to employer wrongdoing, the world would be a far worse place.  By complaining about defective products, whistleblowers save lives.  By reporting harassment and discrimination, whistleblowers defend our civil rights.  By raising concerns about corporate financial practices, whistleblowers guard the integrity of our markets.  By objecting to environmental violations, whistleblowers protect our air and water.  

Illegal retaliation – getting even with a whistleblower or an employee who has complained about discrimination or harassment – is the hottest employment issue of the decade. Train your executives and managers so they can avoid retaliation claims through our Managing Within the Law course and Harassment Prevention Training—newly revised for 2023!  To book training for your company, please call us at 800-458-2778 or send us an email.