[FirstWord]- A Novartis spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the company dismissed a number of senior executives for misconduct. The person declined to detail the number of staff involved, and did not give reasons for the disciplinary action. “We do not comment on the specifics of disciplinary actions related to current or former employees,” the spokesman said.

In a memo sent to staff, CEO Joe Jimenez stated that the staff dismissals came after he had visited several local markets, where some senior staff failed to live up to the company’s internal code of conduct. In addition, the executive indicated that chief compliance officer Peter Kornicker will lead a prevention effort that “will include training for managers to help them identify and intervene in situations before they become code violations.”

Jimenez said that the drugmaker “will not tolerate misconduct and sometimes have to terminate those who breach our well-known rules.” He added that Novartis’ “code of conduct is in place so that everyone is treated with respect and we conduct business in a fair and transparent way.”

Last year, as part of an $152.5-million deal to settle a gender discrimination class action lawsuit, Novartis agreed to spend approximately $22.5 million on improvements to internal policies and programmes to promote equality in the workplace. The settlement followed an award by a jury of $250 million in punitive damages for plaintiffs in the case.