Catherine Wagner, Anne Marie Sorcinelli, and Jenny Harrison v. The Nutrasweet Company

DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge.

As the parties delicately put it in this case, the NutraSweet Company realized that some changes in its business strategy were going to be necessary when “certain of its patents” expired in December 1992. (We assume that they meant the blockbuster patents related to the chemical substance aspartame, an artificial sweetener that, at the time, accounted for approximately $1 billion in annual sales. See Alix M. Freedman, Monsanto Touts New Sugar Substitute as Sweetest Yet, Wall STREET Journal, March 29, 1991.). When managerial employees Catherine Wagner, Anne Marie…