FIL ED U.S . C OUR T O F A PPE ALS ELE VEN TH CIRCUI T No vem ber 30 , 2 006 THO MAS K. KA

HN CLE RK [ DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ N o. 05- 1643 3

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ D. C. Docket N o. 04-609 04-CV- PA S DIANE JUDSON, NIGEL C. SIMPS ON, on b eh al f of

the m se lve s and a ll oth er s si m ilarl y

sit ua te d, Pl ai nti ff s- Appe llants , ve rs us JM FAMILY ENTERPRISES , INC., a D el aw ar e Co rp or at ion , a nd SOUTHEAST T OYOTA D ISTRIB UTORS, LLC, a Fl or ida Co rp or at ion , D ef en dants -Appe lle es .

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Appeal f rom the United State s District Court for the Southern District of F lorida

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ _ (N ove m be r 30, 200 6)* Honora

ble Thomas M. Reavle y , United States Circuit J udg e for the Fif th Circuit, sit ting by desig nation. 2 Be fo re PR

Y O R , FA Y a nd RE A V L E Y , Ci rc uit Jud ge s . * PE R CU RIA M: T he sum m ar y j udgm en t e nte re d inf

av or of the de fe ndants /a

ppe lle es is affi rm edforth e rea so ns set for th in th e v ery th or ou gh an d s ch ol arl y ORDER GRA NT IN G MO TI ONFO R SU MMAR Y JU DG MEN T e ntered by the district co urt onO ct obe r 17, 200 5, w ithone m ino r ex ce pti on tha t do es not c hange the re sul t. O n pa ge 10 o f its opi nio n, the dis tr ic t c ourt st at ed : Pl ai nti ff s arg ue that the y

w er e not sa lari ed e m plo y ee s be ca

use De fendants required them “ to sub m it a tim e re port and use personal or va catio n ti m e to b e pa id” w he n th ey w er e goi ng t o be a w ay

f ro m th e o ffi ce. Thi s ar gu m en t, h owe ve r, is no t s up po rte d b y th e rec or d. Ra the r, w hil e the r ec or d in dic at es that P la int if fs c oul d us e pe rs ona l or va catio n ti m e w he n th ey

w er e aw ay

f ro m w ork, ne ith er

Ms . P ar ks n or Ms . Mangi ni t es tif

ie d th at D ef en dants r equir ed

P la int if fs to use the ir pe rs ona l or

va catio n ti m e fo r suc h a

bse nse s. A r ev ie wof

the r ec or d c onvi nc es us tha t this state m en t i s in co rr ec t. T he plaintiffs alleged that they we re r equired to use personal or vacation tim e if they we re away

from work f or m ore than four hours. Ms. Mangini testified in h er deposit ion th at if the plaintiffs w ere aw ay from work f or m ore than fours hours the y w er e “ re qui re d to put

it in w ri tin g th at

[ the y w er e] usi ng p er sona l t im e or va catio n ti m e. ” Mangi ni d ep o a t 10 :18 -1 9.3

H ow ev er , it

is cl ear tha t pl ai nti ff

s w er e pa id o n asa lary

ba sis . T he D ep ar tm en t of L ab or r eg ula tio n r equir es that the a m ount of c om pe nsa tio n no t be re duc ed de pe ndi ng o n th e qua lity or quanti ty of w ork pe rf

orm ed . A n e m

plo y ee is co nsi de re d to be pa id o n asa lary ba sis if “ he r eg ularl y

r ec ei ve s e ac h pay

pe ri od o n a w ee kly , or

le ss f re que nt b as is, apr ed et er

m ine d a m ount

c onst itu tin g a ll or

part of his c om pe nsa tio n, w hic h a m ount is not sub j ec t t o r ed

uc tio n be ca

use of vari at ion s in the qua lity

or quanti ty of the w ork pe rf

orm ed . ” 29 C . F. R § 541 . 118. T he De partm ent of L abor has opined th at it is perm issib le to charge a salaried em plo y ee ’ s le av e bank f

or part ia l day

abse nc es . “ Whe re a n e m plo y er ha s a be ne fi ts p lan ( e. g. , va catio n ti m e, sic k le av e) , it is pe rm iss ibl e to s ubst itu te or re duc e the a cc ru ed

le av e in the plan f

or the ti m e ane m

plo y ee is ab se nt f

ro m w ork, w he the r the abse nc e is a

part ia l day

or af ull day , w ith out

a ff ec tin g th e sa lary

ba sis of paym ent, if the em

ploy ee nevertheless r eceives in paym ent his or her guara nte ed sa lary . ” 2005 W L 330 606, F L SA200 5- 7. B ec au se the re is no d isp ute that the plainti ffs w ere paid a predeterm ined am ount every pay period and that am ount wa s not su bje ct to variations, they we re salar ied em

ploy ees and sum

m ary j udgm ent was proper . AF FIRMED .