25th May - Novartis has to pay even more and bullets fly in Martigny

Expatica.com reports that a 36-year-old Serbian man died on Sunday after he was shot in the chest during a gunfight in Martigny, in French-speaking Switzerland. Apparently the fight broke out between a group from the Balkans and some Portuguese from Cape Verde. Police in Canton Valais say they don't know yet what started the fight but think that it escalated from the two groups trading insults with each other in the town's main square. The police said a pistol with a silencer has been found but they're still looking for the other weapon used.

There's been bad news for Novartis, the Basel-based pharmaceutical giant. Last week an American court found them guilty of sexual discrimination and ordered them to pay over 3 million dollars to a group of 12 female ex-employees in compensation. The jury found that Novartis had discriminated against women over pay and promotion and because of pregnancy. This week, the court ordered the firm to pay another 250 million dollars in punitive damages.  It's the biggest ever employment discrimination verdict according to Bloomberg.

However the story doesn't end there. The judge who presided over the case told the two sides to return to court tomorrow so that a figure on back pay for lost wages and promotions for the women in the case can be set. Worse still, the 12 women in the original case are part of a group of over 5,500 women named in the class action. Even if only 2/3 of them come forward to give evidence and claim compensation, then Novartis could end up having to pay out over a billion dollars.

Novartis said that they had high standards for diversity and inclusion for its staff and that they were disappointed by the outcome of the case. Their lawyer didn't comment after the verdict but said last week that the firm planned to appeal.

At least 4,000 people took part in a protest against nuclear power in Switzerland yesterday. The demonstrators were calling for an end to talks about building new atomic power stations in Switzerland and the dumping of nuclear waste. There's a referendum planned for 2013 about whether to build new nuclear power plants to provide Switzerland's energy but the protesters claim that renewable energy technology could provide all the electricity the country needs just as well as atomic power. They marched from Aarau to Olten via the nuclear power station at Gösgen and included representatives from parliament and from Greenpeace.