Employment — FLSA

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Employment — FLSA

Pharmaceutical sales reps are exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA.

“[T]he plaintiffs and the Secretary briefly contend that the work of the representatives principally involves the application of skill, rather than judgment. Although they are correct that the regulations draw this distinction and caution that skill is insufficient to warrant the exemption, skill and judgment are not mutually exclusive. The records clearly demonstrate that the representatives receive extensive skills training, particularly on sales techniques. They most certainly employ this skill, and, indeed, many others in the course of their daily duties. Nevertheless, applying these skills entails a great deal of judgment. The job requires far more than ‘applying well-established techniques, procedures or specific standards described in manuals.’ 29 C.F.R. § 541.202(e). It does not involve simple ‘clerical or secretarial work, recording or tabulating data, or performing other mechanical, repetitive, recurrent or routine work.’ Id.”

Affirmed; Reversed and Remanded.

10-3855, 11-1980 & 11-2131 Schaefer-Larose v. Eli Lilly & Co.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Ripple, J.