Trina Richardson v. Sunset Science Park Credit Union, a Federally Chartered Credit Union

Plaintiff Trina Richardson contends on appeal that the district court incorrectly computed the amount of penalty wages owed to her, under state law, by Defendant Sunset Science Park Credit Union and incorrectly determined that she was not entitled to statutory damages under state law because of Defendant’s unlawful deduction from her paycheck. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant employed Plaintiff as a loan officer from August 13, 1995, through October 16, 1998. On September 25, 1998, Plaintiff gave Defendant two weeks’ notice that she intended to quit her job and that her final day of work would be October 9. Plaintiff and Defendant’s manager later agreed that Plaintiff would work through October 16,1998.

By the terms of her employment, Plaintiff was entitled to “flexible time off’ (FTO) as an employment benefit. Defendant expected employees to use their FTO allowance for “vacation, illness or injury ... or personal emergencies.” According to the employment manual, each employee who worked more than 90 days earned an FTO allowance on each anniversary date. Employees were required to use two weeks’ FTO during the year following the…