Back in October 2006, Randy Dossat was closing in on a decade as a Roche sales manager in Nevada. He won awards and regularly earned salary increases. But then a new supervisor arrived and Dossat claims he began experiencing age discrimination. The 52-year-old Dossat was called 'old school' and references were made to his tenure with the drugmaker.
And so, Dossat complained but did not get very far. The drugmaker assessed negative performance reviews, tried forcing him to resign, failed to thoroughly investigate his concerns and left him reporting to the same supervisor, according to a lawsuit he later filed. And last week, a federal court jury awarded him more than $1.8 million - $168,000 in lost pay and $1,700,000 in damages for mental and emotional pain and suffering (see this).
"It started almost from the beginning," his attorney, Lani Estaban-Trinidad, tells us. "His new supervisor gave a powerpoint presentation which showed a picture of the Grim Reaper saying 'out with the old and in the with the new.' Coupled later with the remarks, this led my client to reasonably believe they were out to get him because of his age."
However, the jury did not find evidence of age discrimination, although Estaban-Trinidad explains that the law says if someone reasonably believes they are encountering discrimination and oppose those practices, they should not suffer retaliation. "And that's exactly what Roche did," she says. "Roche retaliated after he complained about his supervisor. No matter what my client did, it was never good enough" (here is the lawsuit).
Dossat, who detailed Tamiflu and the Boniva osteoperosis treatment, was later replaced by a 32-year-old African-American woman, says his attorney. His supervisor, she adds, is also African-American. Dossat is currently on long-term disability. We have asked Roche for a comment and will update you accordingly.
UPDATE: A Roche spokeswoman sent us this: "Roche is disappointed in the jury verdict in the US District Court for the District of Nevada. We continue to believe that Mr. Dossat’s case has no merit. We plan to appeal and vigorously defend ourselves. Roche is committed to ethical and lawful personnel practices. We are committed to providing an environment where each individual is respected and supported, and is rewarded on the basis of personal achievement and contribution."
18 Comments
It's easy to read between the lines here, but we all know age discrimination exists. It's possible he really was a bad performer and it's equally possible they just didn't want him anymore. Either way, you would think companies would find better ways to handle these situations by now.
Emotional distress could have been avoided for under $10 dollars.
http://www.shopinprivate.com/jusformenmus3.html
typical for Roche (and the other Swiss company) to make sure people don't get vested at 10 years - heard similar stories many times - it's routine practice for admins to let them go at 9.5 years...
I enjoy your perspective OII
Don't know about pensions, but most companies have done away with vesting periods for 401k's.
Dossat must have a great shrink. He managed to parlay his "emotional distress" into a lateral move at Genentech, where he holds the same position he did at Roche. So he's triple dipping: 1) gets his back pay from Roche, 2)gets his $1.8 million for his emeotional pain and suffering, and 3) gets his new paycheck from G-Tech.
BTW this is the same law firm that defends over aged Las Vegas cocktail waitresses when they've lost their jiggle. Also, federal law permits age discrimination in the entertainment industry, and after all, that's what the sales divisions of Big Pharma have become. Randy shouldn't be so quick to cash in his lottery ticket just yet.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/randy-dossat/1a/25a/124
I hope he gets every dime of it.
He isn't working with Genentech. Roche bought 100% of Genentech in 2009 and made it private again. Roche's named turned into Genentech for US operations. He went on disability under Roche and never returned, so no he is not cashing in on "two" checks. OII - you are a moron.
Original industry insider, I wish you to cash in your lottery ticket tomorrow. You must have too much vinegar for dinner.
anon, the only one who's a moron in this business is a 52 year old, awards notwithstanding, who is naive enough to believe in job security. Maybe he was a step slower, who knows. I was only a few years older than Doussat when I heard the hoofbeats and quit working for "The Man".
These kinds of awards are always reduced on appeal. Maybe Randy gets $100K out of the deal. Good for another few years of head shrinking. Then again, Roche/G-Tech might soft pedal the deal, fearing that old Randy and that Trinidad shyster are threatening to come through the back door with a reverse discrimination lawsuit on his replacement.
In pharma, you go through three phases, age wise:
1) 25-30, you are overpaid since you are being well compensated for on the job training.
2) 30-50, you are underpaid, since you know your job well and should be getting bigger raises,
3) over 50, overpaid again cause you are over the hill.
Roche will figure out a way to make up the difference. Hire enough 32 year olds to replace geezers like Doussat and it won't take long.
Good night to the Geezers, although the time of this post means you've already been in bed fot two hours.
Look folks, age discrimination exists, and when you hit 50 they will come after you. If you our out performing the rest, it may not matter. It is just a mind set by younger reps that I can get the old guy. Then next you are the old guy. One thing for sure, young or old is not a measurement of production. Actual numbers are the case for productivity.
Age Discrimination definately exists in Pharma Sales more so in women than in men. They like em young, fresh and naive. 1 million to Roche is nothing and they should let it go.
Lefty, you might agree that a 600 cc saline implant doesn't hurt either.
Kudos to Randy for having the courage and persistence to follow through on his complaints. This case was not so much an age issue as it was about creating a hostile work environment. The region Mr. Dossat was assigned to had significantly higher management turnover than any other region at that time. More than one tenured DM left under questionable circumstances during Mr. Holloway's tenure.
One who knows, don't you think this guy would have created a hostile work environment if he was hired? Some people are just not right for the job; too old, too young, too male, etc.
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/01/hooters_sex_discrimination.php
There were multiple others, primarily white males over 50, who were treated like dirt by this RD. Older women had a little better chance but the RD primarily surrounded himself with younger, mostly Asian, attractive women. The RD is a pig who used his position to play games with people's careers and their lives, and Roche protected him. Randy deserves every dime and I hope some of the others who were affected will now come forward.
There is a much more straightforward and less emotionally bruising scenario for those complaining about boss treatment:
JUST QUIT!! I've done it a few times. Not as bad as you think.
You don't quit because psychologically speaking you delude yourself into believing it will get better. Besides, pharma folks bring down large coinage for their troubles, and the spouse or girlfriend might kick you out of the boudoir if you actually quit, as you realize that the Sub-Zero Refrigerator is only half paid off.
But guess what. It never gets better.
Many of these older people have lost their jobs because companies consider them health risks. Older people are not as healthy as young people. Why would a company keep an older person on the payroll when they don't have to? Besides, the human brain shows nerve cell death as we age. It gets harder to learn, and in pharma you are always presented with new learning modules.
Look for more age related dumping before Obamacare forces them to have to insure these folks.