A class of sales representative this month filed a $70 million suit against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., a subsidiary of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The sales representatives allege that Nordisk violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL) by failing to pay overtime to the class, which is comprised of possibly 2,000 people. McKenzie Stepe and Karen Woolen, the lead plaintiffs, claim that they regularly worked over 40 hours per week and did not receive overtime compensation.

Steven L. Wittels, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said:

“[Novartis] misclassified its sales representatives as salaried employees exempt from the benefits of federal and state overtime laws, when in fact, they are not exempt at all. There is something rotten about a company that earned more than $3 billion in 2011 profits, and at the same time refuses to pay its employees the overtime pay that is their due.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide wage and hour practice representing employees whose rights have been violated, including nonpayment of wages and denial of overtime pay.