Novartis Settles Lawsuit For $99 Million

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp (NVS: 54.37, -1.50, -2.68%) has made an agreement to pay $99 million to settle a lawsuit by present and former sales representatives who are claiming they were denied overtime pay in spite of working more than 40 hours per week.

The settlement brings resolve to a 2006 lawsuit that covers about 7,700 plaintiffs who have been employed at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, an affiliate of Switzerland-based Novartis AG, the law firm for the plaintiffs stated.

The settlement comes after a July 2010 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that the workers qualified for overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court is apt to address the same issue after another federal appeals court stated that similarly situated workers at a unit of Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline Plc were not entitled to overtime pay.

Andre Wyss, president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, stated that while the company believes it pays workers in accordance with applicable federal and state laws, “it is time to resolve these wage and hour claims.”

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Tags: 2nd us circuit court of appeal, 7700 plaintiffs, fair labor standards act, glaxosmithkline plc, lawsuit settlement, new york, novartis ag, novartis pharmaceuticals corp, nvs, sales representatives, switzerland-based, us supreme court