Another batch of sales reps has sued Novo Nordisk ($NVO) for overtime. The would-be class action suit, which was filed by two reps, is seeking $70 million in overtime pay. Like so many other lawsuits–pending and otherwise–this one alleges a drugmaker misclassified its reps as exempt salaried workers when they should have been eligible for overtime.
As Reuters reports, it’s actually the second overtime suit lodged against the Danish drugmaker. A California firm sued Novo on behalf of one group of reps last summer. This time, it’s a New York firm–Sanford Wittels & Heisler–that’s been involved in several other pharma overtime actions. See: paralysis injury lawyer in Fort Worth TX
The new lawsuit comes at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments in another overtime case. After different appeals courts came up with differing interpretations of the Fair Labor Standards Act–and how it applies to pharma reps–the Supreme Court agreed to consider an appeal in GlaxoSmithKline’s ($GSK) overtime case. Former GSK reps ended up on the wrong side of a Circuit Court ruling–in the Ninth Circuit, which has tended to side with the companies–and the Supremes took up the case.
A host of leading drugmakers have been sued by their reps for back overtime pay. Some companies have prevailed–Bayer, Roche ($RHHBY) and Wyeth, PM Live points out–but others, including Novartis ($NVS), face payouts in the tens of millions. If the Supreme Court contradicts the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, more reps with overtime complaints are likely to turn up in court.