Boston Sci Lawsuit Raises Uncomfortable Questions for Medtech

The federal lawsuit claims discrimination against women over promotions and pay--not to mention some pretty inappropriate behavior--at the company's Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corp. division.

Nancy Crotti

Two women have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against a division of Boston Scientific Corp., claiming job and pay discrimination, unequal treatment compared with male employees, and sexual harassment.

The plaintiffs estimate that more than 200 other female sales employees of Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corp. (BSNC) may be able to join the suit against the Valencia, CA-based Boston Sci unit. BSNC sells devices that are implanted in patients' spinal columns to treat chronic pain. Boston Scientific acquired BSNC, formerly Advanced Bionics, in 2007, after which BSNC has continued to operate independently, according to the lawsuit.

In the suit, Ohio regional business manager Denise Fretter and former Nevada territory manager Maria Korsgaard claim that BSNC systematically pays women lower base salaries and fewer commissions than male employees; rewards women less for achieving comparable performance goals; assigns women to less profitable accounts and territories while expecting them to meet more rigorous sales quotas; and promotes women more slowly and at lower rates than men.

The women further allege, "BSNC fosters a culture where male members of management are free to harass and denigrate women, with impunity," according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Central California. "Complaining to superiors about discrimination is widely known as committing 'career suicide.'"

Marlborough, MA-based Boston Scientific intends to "vigorously defend itself against the claims and allegations in this case," according to a statement issued by the company.

"We do not believe there is a basis for any of the claims, including any basis for a court to certify a class action, and will make those arguments in court at the appropriate time," wrote corporate spokesperson Kelly Leadem in an email statement. "Boston Scientific is fully committed to diversity--it's a core value of our company--and to providing equal employment opportunities for all of our employees. We believe this case lacks merit, and is led by a law firm known for filing many similar complaints against companies."

Fretter in the suit claims some pretty boorish, inappropriate behavior at BSNC, including a male colleague who put his hands down her pants and "made taunting remarks about her underwear." Korsgaard claims that in 2010, BSNC hired a man to take over a profitable portion of her sales territory, "discriminatorily decreas(ing) Ms. Korsgaard's compensation."

In 2012, the company allegedly assigned part of Korsgaard's sales territories to a man, giving him "a much lower (sales) quota" than her while expecting her to "meet a quota that far exceeded previous sales in the territory." She left the company in 2012.

Boston Scientific isn't the only medical device company facing accusations of discriminating against women over sales representative positions. A federal gender, age discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Chanhassen, MN-based medtech company PTM Corp. could go to trial in January 2016. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suitin March 2014 against PTM, whose products include plastic surgery tissue expanders, and back and neck braces.

Between January 1, 2007 and October 27, 2010, PMT hired at least 70 sales reps, and not one was a woman, even though there were "many qualified female applicants," according to the original EEOC complaint, filed in Minnesota in March 2014. The suit also alleges that the company also failed to hire anyone over age 40 for sales rep positions.

In fact, PMT President Alfred Iversen told his sales managers and human resources staff that "women is sales is a 100% fail," that women are a "failure at travel" and were poorly suited for travel because they needed to be chaperoned, according to the lawsuit complaint. Iversen denied the allegations at the time.

Regardless of the outcomes of these lawsuits, Qmed found last year that misogyny appears to be alive and well in medtech, although not in all companies. Qmed's August 2014 requests for nominations of women innovators in the medtech industry elicited "a slew of surprisingly snarky and sexist comments, including a chorus of 'there are none' and 'are you going to provide some training for them?'" wrote Shana Leonard, now vice president of content for Qmed publisher UBM Canon.

When asked for feedback on the topic of gender bias in medtech, women inthe industry were reluctant to comment on the record, but most had some sort of anecdote ranging from always being relegated to the secretarial (read: female) duty of taking notes during meetings--regardless of rank--to feeling like they had to work harder for promotions than male colleagues to experiences with overt sexism, Leonard wrote.  

Nancy Crotti is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.

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