Santa Clara, CA: A $5 million settlement has been reached in an employment class action lawsuit filed by outside sales reps for Johnson & Johnson (J&J) subsidiary Synthes. The reps alleged that Synthes failed to cover business expenses and illegal wage deductions.
Lead plaintiff Troy Lindell worked for Synthes as an outside sales rep between 1999 and 2011 in Fresno County, CA. According to the complaint, although Synthes pledged to reimburse him for the 200 miles a week he spent on the road and for the office supplies and equipment he needed to do the job, the company failed to live up to that promise.
Further, Lindell alleges Synthes cut his wages for failing to provide completed purchase orders or for providing purchase orders with slight errors.
The complaint states, “His wages were reduced by 50 perecent of the cost of the item sold to the medical facility, even though the item had many times already been implanted in a patient. ” Lindell also accused Synthes of failing to provide him with a copy of his personnel file despite two requests.
According to court documents, the parties signed an agreement August 5 that would see each member of lawsuit’s two classes receive an average payment of more than $14,000.
After legal fees and associated costs, the remaining $3.2 million will be split among the 314 members of the two classes in the suit. The settlement still requires final approval.
