Law360, New York (September 15, 2010, 10:16 AM ET) -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in In re Novartis Wage and Hour Litigation, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 13708, __ F.3d __ (2d Cir. July 6, 2010), that pharmaceutical sales representatives employed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. were not exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements as either “outside sales” or “administrative” employees.

Swimming against the tide of several recent decisions in other jurisdictions, the court’s opinion shifts the outside sales and administrative paradigms and signifies a major victory for...