Attorney Alleges Systemic Gender Discrimination at Life Sciences Company

Even when they attain a high position in a company, many women still face worse treatment then men who do similar work. Kimberly Cornwell joined Repligen Corporation in 2021 when that company bought out her then-employer, Avitide. She had been an attorney there for about four years. Prior to that, she had about 20 years of experience performing legal work for prominent pharmaceutical and life sciences companies. 

Early in 2022, when Repligen’s general counsel left the company, Cornwell started performing the duties of that role. Several months later, the company agreed to her request that she be formally named to the position. However, she earned a lower base salary than her male predecessor, and her official title lacked the “senior” designation he held. This was true even though Cornwell had many more years of experience at larger companies than the prior general counsel. 

According to a lawsuit she filed alleging disparate pay, gender discrimination and unlawful retaliation, when Cornwell played a major role in an acquisition completed by Repligen, every employee who worked on the deal but her received a bonus. In response to her inquiry, the company’s chief operating officer minimized her role in the transaction. As she dug deeper, Cornwell learned that other female executives at the life sciences company routinely received smaller pay increases and fewer leadership perks than male colleagues in equivalent roles.

After raising concerns with Human Resources, Cornwell says she faced an unexpected backlash. Rather than address her pay-and-title claims, she was effectively demoted from her general counsel position and asked to give up some job duties. Moreover, despite high marks on the existing categories of her performance evaluation, a new category was added without her knowledge or input. This section of the evaluation was called “Corporate Governance and Executive Team Partnership.” Negative feedback form company employees was included in this category, which lowered her overall performance evaluation result to “Partially Meets Expectations.” Consequently, her bonus payment was reduced. 

Cornwall filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and alleges that she experienced further forms of retaliation in response. Her lawsuit claims that the situation triggered significant medical problems including brain trauma, intercranial hypertension and leakage of cerebral brain fluid. She requested medical leave and subsequently resigned. 

No matter what your role is within a given company, you should not be paid less or treated worse because of your race, sex or some other legally protected personal trait. Kardell Law Group has achieved strong results in a wide range of employment discrimination cases. Let us show you how we can help.