AstraZeneca: El acoso sexual más caro del mundo. El sexo...a la larga, se paga.

"El acoso sexual más caro del mundo", titulo EL PAIS en su momento la noticia.

Ell "bueno (?)" de Lars Bildman, junto con otros directores de la compañía, se dedicaba a prácticas "non sanctas":

"...fue acusado de despedir a madres y a mujeres mayores para sustituirlas por "jóvenes bellas y solteras", que después eran presionadas por sus jefes para' que mantuvieran relaciones sexuales con ellos. El lema de trabajo de Bildman era que "la empresa Astra demandaba tiempo completo de sus empleados y que un día de trabajo incluye fiestas nocturnas". (EL PAIS)

La investigación iniciada por Business Week con las denuncias de una Visitadora Médica (siempre son la conciencia crítica...):


"Hasta que Pamela Zortman, una representante de ventas de 25 años, decidió denunciarlo públicamente." (EL MUNDO)



La publicación (BusinessWeek) dedicó al tema una portada y dos largos artículos:

ABUSE OF POWER -- Part 1
ABUSE OF POWER -- Part 2

Así comienza:

"The lights were dim, the music was softly romantic. It was the final night of the Astra USA Inc. national sales meeting last June, and pairs of employees were dancing in the ballroom of a suburban Boston hotel. Astra President and Chief Executive Officer Lars Bildman, then 49, was entwined with a 25-year-old sales representative, Pamela L. Zortman. Two onlookers noticed that Bildman, extremely drunk, was running his hands along her back and nibbling at her neck." (BusinessWeek)


Y claro...el que la hace...la paga:

"Bildman was fired in 1996 after an internal investigation found he and other managers harassed female employees at Astra in Westborough and that he spent company money on home repairs, vacations, and high-priced prostitutes. Women at the company said Bildman engaged in “up-close and personal conduct’’ and they were under relentless pressure to dress provocatively and to socialize with Bildman and other executives to ensure their employment." (boston.com).


Al principio fué ASTRA la que tuvo que "correr con el muerto":

"...las amenazas judiciales y la inmensa presión pública en un país especialmente sensible a estos abusos han llevado a la empresa a pagar casi 10 millones de dólares (más de 1.500 millones de pesetas). Se trata de la mayor cantidad de dinero jamás abonada de un golpe por delitos de acoso sexual." (EL PAIS)

La justicia (lenta pero segura, incluso en USA) sentenció al fin y el "pobre" de Lars (rico hasta ahora) tendrá que pagar de su bolsillo:


"Massachusetts’ highest court yesterday ruled that the former chief executive of Westborough pharmaceutical company Astra USA Inc. must forfeit nearly $7 million in salary and bonuses he collected from 1991 through 1996, when he was fired for harassing female employees and misappropriating company funds.

Reversing the decision of a lower court judge, who ruled Astra could not recover compensation paid to Lars Bildman, the Supreme Judicial Court opinion cited the law of New York state, where Astra was incorporated, pertaining to corporate officers who breach their fiduciary duty." (boston.con)


Vamos...se quedó sin dinero y sin novia...

Bildman, the Swedish-born executive at the center of the case, yesterday said he is retired and living in Vermont on Social Security. He said his wife divorced him as a result of the case and that he has spent nearly all the money he earned defending himself in court.

“Of course I am disappointed,’’ Bildman said. “It would be impossible not to be disappointed. The money doesn’t concern me at all. I have no money, so it will be uncollectable.’’(boston.com).

Ese país no es Italia ni allá gobierna Berlusconi...

Foto Bildman