Novartis Fires Senior Execs For Misconduct

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) fired a number of senior executives for misconduct, noting the pharmaceutical giant will not tolerate those who do not uphold certain ethical values.

The Zurich-based company did not specify the reason for the dismissals or disclose how many people were ousted.

Confirming the news on the Pharmalot blog, Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez said the company sometimes has to terminate those who breach the company’s “well-known rules.”

“Our code of conduct is in place so that everyone is treated with respect and we conduct business in a fair and transparent way,” he said on Pharmalot.

Novartis has taken steps recently to mediate staff misconduct after paying $175 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit in 2010 that led to a $253 million jury verdict against the company.