Dell Hackett, and Other Similarly Situated Employees Eric R. Langford v. Lane County

This is an action for overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 . Plaintiffs are supervisory officers in the Lane County Sheriffs Office. The FLSA contains an exemption from its overtime pay requirements for “bona fide executive, administrative, or professional” personnel. 29 U.S.C. § 213 (a)(1). The applicability of that exemption to public employees has been the subject of much litigation in this circuit in recent years. See, e.g., Barner v. City of Novato, 17 F.3d 1256 (9th Cir.1994); McGuire v. City of Portland, Oregon, 91 F.3d 1293 (9th Cir.1996) (filed this day). In order for Lane County to elaim this exemption, the employees must meet both a so-called “duties” test and a “salary” test. See generally, 29 C.F.R. § 541 ; Barner, 17 F.3d at 1259-1260 . That the plaintiffs meet the duties test because they are either administrative or executive employees is undisputed. At issue here, as in other recent cases, is whether plaintiffs meet the requirements of the salary test.

The salary test generally requires that an employee receive a predetermined amount each pay cheek, and that the amount is not subject to reduction due to variations in the…