A group of battalion chiefs (BCs) sued for overtime pay. They alleged that their city employer was wrong to classify them as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The BC’s argued that since they performed some firefighting duties, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) “first responder” regulation prohibited their overtime-exempt status.
The city moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the BCs qualified for the FLSA overtime exemption under the executive, administrative, and highly compensated employee criteria.
The U.S. District Court first addressed the BCs’ claim that the first responder regulation disqualifies all employees who engage in some sort of fire suppression work from exempt status regardless of the “bigger picture” of their duties. The court quickly dismissed that claim.
The court then addressed whether the city was entitled to summary judgment on the grounds that the BCs qualified for the highly compensated employee (HCE) exemption. The HCE exemption applies to employees who: 1) have a total annual compensation of at least $107,432; 2) customarily and regularly perform any one or more of the exempt duties or responsibilities of a white-collar employee; and 3) primarily perform office or non-manual work.
The court found that the BCs met the compensation requirement.
In order to prove the second requirement, LCW argued that the BCs: 1) customarily and regularly performed executive and administrative duties. The court agreed with LCW, that the undisputed evidence showed, for example, that the BCs customarily and regularly supervised lower-ranking officers and personnel every shift they worked. The BCs admitted that they supervised and directed the work of fire captains, firefighter engineers, and paramedics. The BCs also performed exempt managerial tasks because they directed emergency responses in their incident commander roles.
As to requirement three, the court again agreed with LCW and found that the BCs’ primary duty consisted of office and non-manual work. The BCs spent the majority of their work time on office and managerial work as opposed to fire suppression work.
Because the court found that the BCs qualify for the HCE exemption, judgment was entered in favor of the city.