Hey All,
Need to know if you or anyone you know ever sued JNJ. If so, how long did it take, how much did they put you through, and was it worth it?
Your case better be completely solid. Otherwise you will be wasting your time.
I used to work in the law dept at Corporate. They get a good amount of employee-related lawsuits. They also have been down the same road over and over, and know how to stall, obfuscate and just generally wear you down. They are hoping to quickly settle out of court and most times they do. There is one very old class action discrimination suit (Guttierez) that has been going on for years. The famous lawyer Jonnhy Cocoran (now deceased) even had a big ad in the paper, rented out the Hyatt in New Brunswick for a meeting to discuss dicrimination and get others to sign up for the class action suit, etc. Didn't help.
Another thing is that today, many lawyers will not touch your case on a contingency basis, so you'd have to pay them to defend you. Otherwise, they'd be putting in hours on your case and not get paid when you don't get that windfall you were hoping for. Even with the best case, they will wear you down and you'll just want to get on with your life. Plus, it tarnishes our name to other companies, who you can bet will find out you tried to sue your former employer. Much to consider.
Thanks for the input. Speaking from experience, I know J&J knows how to stall, obfuscate and just generally wear a person(s) down. That being said, there is only so much lying and game playing that can be done. At some point, we will have our day in court and the documents will speak for themselves. J&J is hoping we will just give up, but in this case it won't happen. As the games continue, we find new ways to leak their unethical and illegal behavior. At some point the DOJ will get wind of this. Nowadays, the DOJ issues huge fines, prosecutes management, and head company counsel (as in the Glaxo case).
Anyone who has been discriminated against has the right to report the violation to the appropriate agencies for investigations. Report them anonymously if you don't feel comfortable divulging your name. JNJ needs to be accountable for their discriminatory acts when they occur and stand behind their credo for every single employee.
You may get your "justice" but lawsuits are searchable, and if you're looking for a job, your actions will follow you. It's not like on TV. They really don't care that you think you were discriminated against. It' your word against theirs. If it ever gets to court - and it most likely will not - you'll be portrayed as a poor performer, a disgruntled employee or what ever else they can dig out of any of your performance reviews. Plus the money you'll have to pay your lawyer will add up fast - they charge between $200 - 350 per hour, and you'll lose the case and have to pay through the nose. I'm with another company now, who ironically handles things the exact same way, but they are a much better company to work for. I dont know if Gutteriez was ever settled. You can look it up if you have access to Lexis Nexis or Westlaw, or even google it. Not sure of the correct spelling. Search J&J and "class action suit". The little guy very rarely wins against a corporation, unless you take what they offer, sign the papers and go away.
