A $200 million gender discrimination lawsuit filed against a U.S. unit of Novartis AG by 19 women sales representatives can proceed as a class-action case, a federal judge has ruled. The lawsuit, filed in 2004 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, contends that women were discriminated against in pay and promotions, especially when they became pregnant. They are seeking back pay, damages and other compensation...Novartis spokesman Sheldon Jones said the company's lawyers were reviewing the document.