A former medical writing manager at Pfizer has sued the drugmaker for sex discrimination after alleging her former manager forced her into a sexual relationship and that she was subsequently fired for violating the corporate conflict of interest policy, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. Lisa Gault began working as a contractor for Wyeth, which was acquired by Pfizer (PFE) in late 2009, and in August 2010, applied for a full-time position before her contract was to expire. She was hired by the associate director of the medical writing group, who is not named in the lawsuit, and subsequently encountered pressure to have sex with her manager, according to the lawsuit. The overtures began at a dinner in the fall of 2010, continued at a training meeting in Connecticut, where the hiring manager allegedly pressured Gault to accompany him to her hotel room and fondled her. And during a meeting in late December or early January 2011, he pressured her to perform oral sex in his office, the lawsuit states. They subsequently had sexual relations on more than one occasion, such as at his hotel room in New York where they were attending a conference, but under duress, according to the lawsuit in which Gault maintains she did so out of fear for her job. The lawsuit indicates that both Gault and her former manager were married. During a meeting with a supervisor, Gault was treated in a hostile manner by her manager, who told her that someone at Pfizer had complained they were having a relationship. In April 2011, the director of employee relations met with Gault and accused her of having an inappropriate relationship with her manager, according to the lawsuit.
