Bristol-Myers Squibb Wins Gender-Bias Case

BOSTON (CN) - A female employee of Bristol-Myers Squibb did not prove that the company fired her for being a woman, the 1st Circuit ruled.

Judge Lynch upheld the district court's summary judgment in favor of Bristol-Myers, which argued that it terminated Norys Garcia for poor job performance.

Bristol Myers placed Garcia on two "performance improvement plans" prior to firing her from her position as senior project engineer. The employer said Garcia "had trouble working well with others, reacted negatively to feedback, and blamed others when problems arose."

Garcia argued that she was disciplined more harshly than a male co-worker, but he was under her supervision and subject to a different set of standards, Lynch ruled.

"The record contains no evidence of gender bias - no offensive statements or smoking guns," Lynch wrote.

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