Tennessee Employment Lawyer Blog

Tennessee residents and people all across the country have heard about the recent overtime class action lawsuit against Novartis and its outcome resulting in a settlement for drug sales representatives because of being misclassified as exempt from overtime compensation. This settlement has now lead to more people in Tennessee and all over the country to question whether or not their job entitles them to overtime compensation as well. If you or someone you know believes that you are entitled to overtime pay and are not receiving it, you should speak with a Tennessee overtime pay lawyer right away. They will help make sure you get the compensation that is rightfully yours for the hours you work.

In this case, an appeal was recently filed against the GlaxoSmithKline overtime lawsuit because the drug sales persons are claiming that they were improperly denied their overtime pay. The Obama Administration’s Secretary of Labor also recently filed a brief supporting sales reps and enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act to make sure that all employees get the compensation they are entitled to.

In this particular case, even workers who are on salary are required to be paid one and a half times their regular pay rate for any hours worked over eight in one day. Also, under the FLSA employees are entitled to overtime pay for hours worked over forty in a work week unless their specific job tasks make them exempt. Outside sales reps are only exempt from overtime pay if they spend more than fifty percent of their working time away from their employer’s business or away from their home office while they are making sales.

In the Merck complaint the sales reps claim they were not making sales because at the most all they could receive was doctors agreeing to prescribe drugs to clients when they were appropriate. The Novartis sales reps claimed that they were responsible for visiting doctor’s offices, dropping off drug samples, and delivering scripted messages about the company’s products. Novartis claimed that their employees were outside sales reps outside sales people and exempt from overtime compensation. However, the court ruled that the pharmacy reps are not actually sales people and that they are not exempt because they were tightly controlled and could not exercise discretion or independent judgment in their primary job tasks both of which are required to make them exempt.
Novartis was important because it was the “first federal appellate decision finding that the outside sales and administrative exemptions don't cover pharmaceutical sales reps,” stated by an attorney for the Novartis sales reps. This case and its outcome have lead to other industries and people questioning whether or not they are exempt from overtime compensation.

Continue reading "Drug Sales Reps Entitled to Overtime" »

Thanks to recent efforts by Congress, U.S. workers pursuing claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) now have additional assistance in obtaining a private lawyer. In the past, the Wage and Hour Division was unable to assist all claims due to such a high volume of workers needing help with minimum wage, overtime, and family medical leave laws. This left many workers with valid claims unassisted. The Wage and Hour Division will now direct these workers to a local referral service which will point them in the direction of a lawyer who will assist in their claims. This is a welcomed change for U.S. workers who, for so long, were held at a disadvantage against their employers.

In Tennessee, overtime cases have been on the rise over the past few years. Our office is currently handling several individual overtime and several class-action overtime cases. If you have any questions regarding an overtime claim, please feel free to contact our office.

Tennessee workers and many other workers all over the country expect and deserve to be treated with respect and given the same opportunities as other employees no matter what their race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability might be. However, this does not always happen. If you feel that you have been discriminated against at work because of a disability, then you should talk to a Tennessee employment lawyer as soon as possible. They will help you get the compensation you deserve for having your rights violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In this case, William Pleminitas worked as a custodial worker at Port Jervis City School District was fired due to him having a perceived mental disability. This is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The jury found that School Superintendent John Xanthis and Assistant Superintendent Lorelei Case tried to come up with other reasons for the termination. Pleminitas was awarded $85,000 for emotional distress.

Pleminitas starting working for the school district in 1992, then in March 2007, his supervisor claims that Pleminitas angrily confronted him. The following day Case and Xanthis suspended Pleminitas for thirty days without pay and without hearing Pleminitas side of the story and without consulting any other witnesses. In April of 2007, the school district filed disciplinary charges against Pleminitas which were seeking that he be fired on the grounds that he suffered from anxiety, depression, and several mental disorders which the charges claimed prevented him working and made him dangerous to others. Pleminitas previously had been working for fifteen years without any problems and had received average or above average on all performance evaluations. He also had never had a major confrontation with a supervisor before.

After his thirty day suspension the school district refused to give him back his job
without the results of an arbitration which contested his termination. This was shown to cause him financial distress as well as economic hardship and anxiety. At the trial a psychiatrist claimed that he had been treating Pleminitas for a long time and he was not a danger to himself or others and had never unable to work because of any disability. The school district did not send Pleminitas for a mental evaluation as allowed by law.

Continue reading "Verdict Reached in Perceived Disability Lawsuit" »

Recently Channel Four in Nashville, Tennessee interviewed Jim Higgins about overtime cases. You can watch the interview here.

Continue reading "The Higgins Firm Interviewed Regarding Recent Tennessee Overtime Cases" »

Tennessee residents and people all across the United States go to work and expect to be paid properly for the number of hours they work. However, many times companies and other places of work will find ways around having to pay their employees the overtime pay they deserve. This happens in all different types of work places, no matter how important the job might be. If you have been denied pay for the overtime you have worked, then your rights have been violated and you should speak with a Tennessee overtime pay lawyer as soon as possible. They will work with you to make sure you receive the compensation you are rightfully entitled to.

According to this lawsuit, two dozen paramedics claim that the Federal Labor Standards Act was violated because under this law they are entitled to receive time and a half in overtime pay for hours they work over forty in a week. The lawsuit was first filed by four paramedics who claimed that they were usually only paid for sixteen hours of a twenty-four hour shift. They lawsuit also claims that the paramedics were denied compensation for the meals and rest that were required while working their shifts.

Since the lawsuit started, nearly one-third of the workforce has joined in on the case.

Continue reading "Nearly Two Dozen Paramedics Have Filed a Lawsuit over Being Denied Overtime Pay" »

Tennessee workers and workers all across the country have certain expectations when they go to work. They expect to be treated with respect and dignity and to be treated fairly. Unfortunately, in many workplaces this does not always happen. Many workers face discrimination based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, and even weight. This is not fair to any employee and it is also against the law. If you feel that you have been discriminated against for any reason while at work, then you should speak with a Tennessee employment lawyer right away. They will hear your case and make sure you get the compensation and respect you deserve.

In this case, fifty-two Filipino nurses and other medical staff filed a lawsuit against their employer, Delano Regional Medical Center, claiming that the hospital banned them from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages, even though they still allowed other employees to speak Spanish and Hindi. These workers are hoping to join a complaint filed in August in Kern County over the hospital enforcing a rule that requires their employees to speak English.

In 2006, Filipino workers were called to a meeting and told to speak only English and were also told that surveillance cameras would be installed, if needed, to monitor them. Since the meeting, Filipino workers said they were told on a regular basis to speak only English even on their break time.

Elnora Cayme, who worked for the hospital from 1980 to 2008, stated that, "I felt like people were always watching us, even when we spoke English ... people would come and approach us and tell us, 'English only.' “According to the lawsuit filed by the EEOC, the hospital in California's San Joaquin Valley has created a hostile environment for Filipinos to work in by singling them out for punishments and expecting other workers to report them. The workers in this case, are seeking that the English-only rule to be changed, and for staff to be trained on the new rule.