NEW YORK, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- In the almost three years that Simona Lopes worked for pharmaceutical powerhouse, Novartis, the sales representative often was expected to work more than 40 hours a week, but her paychecks never included the overtime pay she was entitled to.
Today Ms. Lopes filed a $225 million class action suit for that pay in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of herself and all other Novartis employees in similar sales positions statewide and nationwide. She is represented in the class action matter by Steven Wittels of Sanford, Wittels & Heisler LLP, with offices in Washington, DC, New York City and Ft Lee, NJ.
"Ms. Lopes and the class are entitled to unpaid overtime premium wages for their work beyond 40 hours a week," Mr. Wittels said. "We are seeking class certification under Rule 23 to include all Novartis' sales representatives who were denied the overtime pay to which they are legally entitled."
The suit was filed against Novartis under both the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York State Labor Law and Regulations.
In addition to the national opt-in class filed in NY, three suits were filed for opt-out statewide class actions in New York, New Jersey and California. In the California action, Co-counsel Grant Morris of the Grant Morris Law Firm said, "Novartis needs a wake up call that this behavior must stop, employees must be treated in accordance with the law, and they are simply not doing that."
Novartis has been one of the fastest growing global pharmaceutical companies in the world in the recent past. In 2004, Novartis Group's sales reached $28.2 billion and Novartis Pharmaceuticals' sales topped $18.5 billion.
In the New York action which is both a state and national class, the suit claims that New York employees of Novartis involved in product sales were misclassified by the company as exempt from federal and state overtime requirements. Current and former employees affected include sales representatives, sales consultants, team leaders/sales representatives, senior sales representatives, trusted advisor sales representatives, bilingual sales representative and assumptions sales representatives.
David Sanford of Sanford, Wittels & Heisler said, "If the class action is approved by the Court, the suit could potentially benefit thousands of New York-based Novartis sales employees and Novartis employees nationwide who worked for the company since 2003, are working for the company now or will work for the company in the future."
The complaint asks for back overtime on behalf of Ms. Lopes and the class, as well as for liquidated damages, prejudgment interest, attorneys' fees, court costs and other compensation allowed under state and federal fair labor law.
Complaints for federal and state lawsuits are available by request.
Sanford Wittels & Heisler, LLP
CONTACT: Jamie Moss, newsPRos, +1-201-493-1027, for Sanford Wittels &Heisler, LLP
