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Reuters General/ ­- Article, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
Supreme Court hears Glaxo overtime pay
case
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:58pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ­- The Supreme Court heard
arguments on Monday on whether pharmaceutical
companies must pay sales representatives overtime, a
dispute that threatens the industry with billions of
dollars in potential liability.
The justices considered an appeal by two former sales
representatives for a unit of Britain's GlaxoSmithKline
Plc of a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in California that they were "outside sales" personnel
exempt from federal overtime pay requirements.
That decision conflicted with an earlier ruling by the
2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that
pharmaceutical sales representatives qualified for
overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Paul Clement, a former Bush administration solicitor
general now in private practice, argued for the Glaxo
unit and said the representatives were exempt from
overtime requirements.
Clement cited a brief filed by the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America trade group
that said classifying sales representatives as eligible
for overtime could expose the industry to potential
liability of billions of dollars.
The Federal Labor Standards Act generally requires
companies to pay workers overtime, but includes
numerous exemptions for certain white­-collar workers,
including those classified as "outside salesmen."
Attorney Thomas Goldstein, representing the workers,
said the main purpose of the representatives was to
promote drugs in visits to doctors. "They tout drugs to
doctors," he said.
During the hour of arguments, the justices also
considered a second issue of whether the U.S. Labor
Department's interpretation of the law was owed
deference.
In 2009, the Labor Department sided with the former
workers and said the exemption applied only if the
representatives had been involved in a consummated
sales transaction, but not when they just promoted
drugs in visits to doctors.
The two former Glaxo workers, Michael Christopher
and Frank Buchanan, said in their class­-action lawsuit
that they did not receive overtime for 10 to 20 hours
worked each week, on average, outside the normal
business day.
Glaxo replied that pharmaceutical sales
representatives typically got a base salary and
performance­-based commissions, and that the
overtime requirements did not apply.
A ruling by the Supreme Court is due by the end of
June.
The Supreme Court case is Christopher v. Smithkline
Beecham Corp, No. 11­-204.
(Reporting by James Vicini; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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