Muston v. MKI Systems, Inc.

951 F. Supp. 603, 3 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1217, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 328, 1997 WL 11287
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJanuary 10, 1997
DocketCivil Action No. 96-299-A
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 951 F. Supp. 603 (Muston v. MKI Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Muston v. MKI Systems, Inc., 951 F. Supp. 603, 3 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1217, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 328, 1997 WL 11287 (E.D. Va. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

This is an action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (“FLSA”), in which the plaintiff seeks to recover overtime wages allegedly due him from his former employer. It is before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment.

I.

Defendant MKI Systems, Inc. (“MKI”) is a small government contractor that provides professional services to the U.S. Marine Corps, primarily in the area of systems analysis. Most of MKI’s employees are retired Marines. Indeed, plaintiff Leon A. Muston came to MKI in July 1992 upon his retirement from 20 years of Marine Corps service. He was hired as a Senior Systems Analyst with a starting salary of $27,000 annually. After one year, Muston’s salary was increased to $29,000. In addition, he received an employee performance review. This review listed Muston’s position title as “Senior Logistics Analyst”. It also indicated that he held a supervisory position and, accordingly, included an evaluation of his management skills. Muston signed this performance review, signifying that he agreed with its contents.

While at MKI, Muston worked, for the most part, as part of a team whose primary responsibility was to provide consulting services to the Marine Corps Systems Command (“MARCORSYSCOM”) at Quantico, Virginia. While there is disagreement over the precise scope of Muston’s duties and responsibilities, it is clear that Muston’s role involved providing logistical analysis concerning the acquisition, operation and servicing of equipment necessary for military operations. More particularly, Muston’s duties involved developing recommendations for the types, quantities, maintenance and operation of equipment needed for specific military operations.

During his employment at MKI, Muston worked scheduled hours and was required to record his work hours. This record-keeping was apparently required on MKI’s government projects. Notwithstanding the fact that MKI tracked Muston’s hours, MKI considered Muston to be a salaried, not an hourly, employee. As a salaried employee, Mu-ston never had deductions from his pay based on the quantity of his work, with one exception. This exception occurred in January 1994, when Muston took five days of leave without pay. MKI’s policy manual informed salaried employees that:

[w]hen an employee works less than the full amount of hours during a particular pay period, ... as a result of taking leave without pay, pay will be calculated based on the percentage of working hours that an employee actually worked in that pay period.

Thus, in accordance with this provision, Muston’s pay was reduced for the five days, or forty hours, he was on leave without pay.

Muston’s employment with MKI terminated on May 3,1994, owing in part to a reduction in contract requirements.1 Thereafter, on March 6, 1996, Muston filed this complaint, alleging that MKI failed to pay him overtime wages for weeks in which he [606]*606worked more than 40 hours, in violation of FLSA.2 At the close of discovery, Muston moved for summary judgment solely on the question of whether the alleged FLSA violation indeed occurred. The heart of this question is whether Muston, when employed by MKI, was exempt from FLSA wage and hour restrictions because he was a salaried executive, professional or administrative employee. After oral argument, the matter was taken under advisement and the parties were directed to submit additional memoranda addressing the applicable statute of limitations, and the appropriateness of liquidated damages. These submissions were received, with both parties then moving for summary judgment on these questions, as well. As a part of its submission, MKI also filed a cross motion for summary judgment on the original issue of Muston’s coverage under FLSA overtime provisions. Thus, the matter comes before the Court on cross applications for summary judgment that raise three issues:

(1) whether Muston was exempt from the overtime requirements of FLSA because he was a “salary basis” executive, administrative or professional employee of MKI;
(2) whether MKI’s violation of FLSA was willful such that the usual two year limitations period should be increased to three years; and
(3) whether MKI’s classification of Muston as exempt from FLSA was in good faith with an objectively reasonable basis such that liquidated damages are inappropriate.

II.

FLSA requires, inter alia, that covered employers pay their employees overtime wages, at the rate of time-and-a-half, for hours in excess of 40 worked in a single week. Yet, FLSA also contains what are commonly referred to as the “white-collar exemptions” for workers who are (i) executive, (ii) administrative, or (iii) professional employees. See 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1). Employees who fall into any of these three exempt categories need not be paid premium wages, i.e., time and a half, for hours worked over 40 hours in a week. Department of Labor (“DOL”) implementing regulations authoritatively elucidate these exemptions. See 29 C.F.R. Part 541; see also 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1) (relevant provisions of FLSA do not apply to “any employee employed in a [‘white-collar’] capacity ... (as such terms are defined and delimited from time to time by regulations of the Secretary.”)); Shockley v. City of Newport News, 997 F.2d 18, 21 (4th Cir.1993) (DOL regulations define what constitutes “white collar” employee for purposes of FLSA exemptions). Thus, to benefit from any one of the three exemptions, an employer must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that an employee meets the DOL regulatory definition of the exemption. See Shockley, 997 F.2d at 21-22.

DOL regulations specify the various requirements, including education, training, and employment responsibilities, an employee must meet for inclusion in each of the three white collar exempt categories. Importantly, one requirement common to all three white collar exemptions is that they are available only for employees compensated on a “salary basis”. See Shockley, 997 F.2d at 21.3 Thus, to classify an employee as exempt from FLSA overtime requirements, an employer must, as a threshold matter, demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the employee was paid on a salary basis. Id. If this threshold requirement is met, an em[607]*607ployer must then further demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that an employee was employed in a professional, administrative, or executive capacity. Id. In the instant matter, if MKI cannot meet the burden of demonstrating that Muston is a salaried administrative, professional or executive employee, then none of the white collar exemptions apply, and Muston is entitled to summary judgment on the issue of his coverage under FLSA overtime provisions.

A. Salary Basis

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951 F. Supp. 603, 3 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1217, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 328, 1997 WL 11287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/muston-v-mki-systems-inc-vaed-1997.