Inniss v. Tandy Corp.

7 P.3d 807, 141 Wash. 2d 517, 2000 Wash. LEXIS 488
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 31, 2000
DocketNo. 68225-9
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 7 P.3d 807 (Inniss v. Tandy Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Inniss v. Tandy Corp., 7 P.3d 807, 141 Wash. 2d 517, 2000 Wash. LEXIS 488 (Wash. 2000).

Opinions

Smith, J.

— Petitioners Patrick S. Inniss, Sam R. Lopez and Adnan I. Haq seek review of a decision of the Court of Appeals, Division One, which affirmed an order of summary judgment by the King County Superior Court in favor of their employer, Respondent Tandy Corporation, in their action challenging calculation of their overtime compensation. The Court of Appeals concluded in an unpublished opinion the employment practice of a “fluctuating workweek” did not violate the Washington Minimum Wage Act, chapter 49.46 RCW, when calculating overtime compensation at “one and one-half times the regular rate” under RCW 49.46.130(1)1 We granted review. We affirm.

QUESTION PRESENTED

The question presented in this case is whether the employment practice of utilizing a “fluctuating workweek” violates the Washington Minimum Wage Act when calculating overtime compensation at “one and one-half times the regular rate” under RCW 49.46.130(1).

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The material facts are not in dispute.2 Respondent Tandy Corporation is a Delaware corporation doing business in Washington as Radio Shack.3 Petitioners Patrick S. Inniss, Sam R. Lopez and Adnan I. Haq were “V” store managers at various Radio Shack stores in King County from 1993 to [520]*5201996.4 Each worked at least 40 hours a week, the exact number of hours fluctuating from week to week.5 Overtime hours were paid in accordance with the “Radio Shack Retail Store Manager Compensation Plan for ‘V’ Stores,” portions of which provide:

B. Employment Relationship. This compensation plan is not an employment contract but only a method of calculating the manager’s total earnings and it is understood that the employment relationship with Radio Shack is an at will relationship.
C. Base Pay. The “V” Store Manager will be paid a base salary as straight time pay for all hours worked each workweek. The base salary shall be determined by the number of complete years of continuous service worked as a Radio Shack Retail Store Manager and shall be structured as shown in the chart below. The base salary will be paid on a weekly or bi-weekly basis as determined by state law.
Overtime will be paid at one-half the calculated regular rate (obtained by dividing the number of hours worked in the workweek into the weekly base salary amount) for all hours worked over forty (40) in any workweek.
Tenure Salary Weekly Examples of annual pay for 54 hour workweek
Less than 1 year $15,938 $306.50 $18,000
1 to 2 years $16,819 $323.45 $19,000
2 to 3 years $17,706 $340.50 $20,000
3 to 4 years $18,590 $357.50 $21,000
More than 4 years $ 19,479 $374.60 $22,000
Adjustments to the base pay for tenure shall be effective at the beginning of the first pay period beginning after the completion [521]*521of each full year of continuous service as a retail store manager.
L. Work Week, [sic] The manager will typically be scheduled to work 6 days per week.[6]

In 1993, the minimum hourly wage in the State of Washington for an employee “who [had] reached the age of eighteen years” was $3.85 per hour.7 Effective from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1998, the minimum hourly wage was increased to $4.90 per hour.8 Petitioners “concede that if all of [Petitioners’] commissions, [special incentive bonuses] and bonuses (including annual bonuses) are included in determining [Petitioners’] regular rate of pay, [Petitioners] received at least [the statutory minimum hourly wage].”9

On October 9, 1996, Petitioners filed a complaint against Respondent in the King County Superior Court claiming they were not compensated “at a rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for [their] overtime work”10 as required by the Washington Minimum Wage Act.11 On April 17, 1997, they filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the validity of Respondent’s compensation plan for overtime hours under a “fluctuating workweek.”12 Respondent filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on May 2, 1997.13 The Honorable Michael J. Trickey on June 30, 1997 signed an order granting Respondent’s motion for [522]*522summary judgment and denying Petitioners’ motion.14 The trial court concluded, as a matter of law, that Respondent’s method of calculating overtime compensation under a “fluctuating workweek” did not violate the Washington Minimum Wage Act.15

On July 23, 1997, Petitioners filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals, Division One.16 The Court of Appeals, the Honorable Ronald E. Cox writing, affirmed the order granting summary judgment.17 It concluded in an unpublished opinion that Respondent’s compensation of its managers under the fluctuating workweek method did not violate the Washington Minimum Wage Act because Petitioners’ wages never fell below the statutory minimum.18

Petitioners Inniss, Lopez and Haq petitioned this Court for review of the decision of the Court of Appeals. Review was granted on January 7, 2000.19

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

This Court reviews an order of summary judgment de novo.20 It engages in the same inquiry as the trial court, treating all facts and reasonable inferences from the facts in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party.21 Where, as here, the parties do not dispute the material facts, this Court will affirm an order on summary judgment if the [523]*523successful moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.22

Interpretation of a statute is a question of law.23 At issue in this case is the interpretation of RCW 49.46.130(1), which reads:

Minimum rate of compensation for employment in excess of forty horn* work week [sic] — Exceptions. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer shall employ any of his employees for a work week [sic] longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-halftimes the regular rate at which he is employed.

(Emphasis added.)

The Washington Minimum Wage Act24 does not define the term “regular rate” under RCW

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Bluebook (online)
7 P.3d 807, 141 Wash. 2d 517, 2000 Wash. LEXIS 488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/inniss-v-tandy-corp-wash-2000.