Hours and wages lawsuit settled for $99 million

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Anonymous said:
Thank god this has been settled. I worked 20 to 30 hours a week for damn near 12 years and I am due a check. Those high dollar meals and drinks at restaurants I could never afford put a huge strain on my marriage even when I brought home a meal for my spouse. Also, when I had to go to Vegas, San Antonio, New Orleans, etc. and spend the company money on liquor and food, I felt like I was getting taken advantage of. So send me my check so I won't be feeling so taken advantage of!!!
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Best post ever!
 






I never received the paperwork for this lawsuit, so I called the law firm last March - 2011. They told me that you had to "opt-in" to be included in the suit. I asked if I could "opt-in" and she said that no, it was too late. What I want to know is, will I automatically be included? I worked for the company during that timeframe and was laid-off in December 2010.
One thing the lady from the law firm asked me was if my base salary was under $100,000. I had heard that if your base salary was over $100,000 you were exempt from the lawsuit. Anyone else hear this and do you know if it's a fact? Thanks for any info updates.
 












Lead Plaintiffs get 40K plus overtime. I heard over 100K in annual income then the award is higher. We just have to wait till judge signs the deal. There should be another opt in period and mail your claim forms in April and then checks come after that. Remember these are wages so it is taxable...
 






Anonymous said:
Lead Plaintiffs get 40K plus overtime. I heard over 100K in annual income then the award is higher. We just have to wait till judge signs the deal. There should be another opt in period and mail your claim forms in April and then checks come after that. Remember these are wages so it is taxable...
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Will those of us who were laid off in Dec 2010 get the opt in form?
 






Anonymous said:
Will those of us who were laid off in Dec 2010 get the opt in form?
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I can see why you got laid off, If you read any press statement it shows the years you would have worked for Novartis. Just like in the gender discrimination suit, if you were working for Novartis during that period you were part of the class.
 






Anonymous said:
My attorney looked at this and said by the verbage all employees are included. He said its probably to avoid further litigation.
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This makes sense. The ONLY legal way to have mail sent and be liable for a response is to have certified mail or have an officer legally serve you papers. Otherwise, you can't be certain that someone received the info and can't therefore can't opt them out...from what I know.
 












Anonymous said:
Lead Plaintiffs get 40K plus overtime. I heard over 100K in annual income then the award is higher. We just have to wait till judge signs the deal. There should be another opt in period and mail your claim forms in April and then checks come after that. Remember these are wages so it is taxable...
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These are not wages, it is a settlement in a lawsuit which is tax free baby!!!
 










































Anonymous said:
The sad reality is that these expenses will simply be made up by increasing the number of impending layoffs...it's kinda like cutting off your nose to spite your face
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not true, 100 million is like a $20 bill to nvs. novartis has done some great things in the past 10 years, but they have also made equally bad moves.

Novartis could have reclassified its reps in 2006, like many company in the U.S. did. But they did not. We, the reps, where delivering huge productivity gains for the company. For every dollar spent in marketing we returned $4. The highest of any fortune 500 company at the time.

its always about the money people, always!
 












Just confirmed with law firm that I am a plaintiff in the lawsuit & will receive compensation. I was with NVS for the entire period involved (02-07). Will get notification from the court by end of next month. Don't know what I will receive but I do know I busted my ass for the company for almost 9 years (evenings, weekends- never did any admin, I-Learn, or CLP during "sales" time). The amount of extraneous crap we had to do was ridiculous (drop everything and sell- yeah right). When I joined the company it was a great place to work. Boy, has that changed.
 






Info right from the law firm response to my email:

the Settlement was negotiated in such a way that most representatives will be able to participate -- regardless of their state of employment or whether they opted into the class action in 2007.

On February 24, 2012, the Claims Administrator will mail a Notice from the Judge with a more detailed explanation of the Settlement benefits, a description of who is eligible to receive them, a description of how awards will be calculated and distributed, and an explanation of what, if anything, class members will need to do to indicate their desire to participate.

Lets see how many opt out on this one. Id say its a big fat 0
 






Anonymous said:
you know nothing
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According to the contact I had with the lawfirm, most people who worked for Novartis as a rep during that time will be able to opt in and receive some amount of payment. Everyone will find out mofe as this is finalized sometime from the middle of February through the middle of March. If you believe you qualify but don't receive anything in writing by the middle of March then you should contact the lawfirm.
 






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