Opinion ID: 610591
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Part-Day Absences

Text: 11 The Officers contend that City policy required reductions in their salaries for part-day absences. Although the regulations allow employers to reduce a salaried employee's pay when the employee absents himself from work for a day or more for personal reasons, other than sickness or accident, 29 C.F.R. § 541.118(a)(2), they do not allow reductions for part-day absences. Such reductions defeat any claim that the employee was paid on a salary basis. Abshire v. County of Kern, 908 F.2d 483, 487 (9th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1068, 111 S.Ct. 785, 112 L.Ed.2d 848 (1991); Hawks v. City of Newport News, 707 F.Supp. 212, 214-15 (E.D.Va.1988). 12 The Department of Labor created an exception to this principle on September 6, 1991, when it promulgated 29 C.F.R. § 541.5d (1992), amended, 57 Fed.Reg. 37,666, 37,677 (Aug. 19, 1992). Under § 541.5d, public employees are not disqualified from exemption merely because a pay system established by statute, ordinance, regulation, or public policy requires that the employee's pay be reduced for part-day absences. Id. Therefore, to the extent that City policy in fact required such reductions, the policy only affects whether the Officers were paid on a salary basis prior to September 6, 1991. 3 13 The district court agreed with the Officers that under City policy their pay could be reduced for part-day absences. The primary evidence supporting this conclusion was a set of letters sent by Jay A. Carey, Jr., the Chief of Police, to each of the Officers. The letters were the same in substance. For example, Carey wrote to Sergeant D.P. Wescott that [a]s a plaintiff in this case you must take annual, personal leave, or leave without pay for any period of time you are not at your work assignment as a result of the court case. (J.A. at 152.) Carey attached to each letter a copy of § 705 of the City Personnel-Administrative Manual. Section 705 provided that vacation or personal leave must be used when an employee appears as a party in a case but is not represented by the City Attorney. Section 705 implemented § 2-98(c) of the City Code, which provided that [e]mployees appearing as a party in a case shall not be entitled to civil leave with pay during such court appearances. (J.A. 149.) In addition, § 608 of the Manual specified that leave was computed in 15 minute increments with the exception that employees who are exempt from overtime and who have exhausted all accumulated leave balances will not have pay docked for any approved absence of less than one day. (J.A. at 394.) 14 The evidence before the district court also included an affidavit submitted by the City in which Chief Carey stated that his letter only paraphrased § 705 of the Personnel-Administrative Manual and was not intended as an independent statement of city policy. The City also produced a letter from its Director of Personnel, Caroline Hurt, dated December 7, 1988, which stated that: 15 Retroactive to April 15, 1986, employees in positions which have been declared exempt from overtime and who have exhausted all vacation and sick leave accumulations shall not have their pay docked for part-day absences.... If any exempt employee has had pay docked for approved leave of less than one day since April 15, 1986, the employee will be compensated for the time docked. 16 (J.A. at 412.) Ms. Hurt testified at her deposition that the City had never had a policy of docking exempt employees for part-day absences, but that the letter was sent out nevertheless as clarification. Chief Carey indicated in response to Hurt's letter that [w]e do not have any employees who will be affected by this change. (J.A. 413.) 17 The district court found that the Officers' leave for attendance as a party in a lawsuit is not 'approved' leave for which an employee will be paid. (J.A. at 521.) Reading § 2-98 of the City Code together with § 705 of the Manual and the Chief of Police's letter, the court concluded that under City policy the Officers were not to be paid for their part day absences while appearing as plaintiffs in this case. (J.A. at 520.) The district court further concluded that the City had a policy of reducing the Officers' pay for part-day absences and accordingly found that the Officers were not salaried employees prior to September 6, 1991. 18 The district court clearly erred in finding that the City had a policy of docking employees' pay for part-day absences. We have no quarrel with the court's conclusion that the Officers' pay was subject to reduction for time devoted to appearances as a party in a court case, this case in particular. However, in concluding that this policy applied to part-day absences, the district court relied primarily upon the letters sent by the Chief of Police. These letters do not bear the weight that the court placed upon them. Chief Carey's affidavit indicates that he merely intended to paraphrase § 705, a statement that was fully consistent with the letters themselves. The letters cross-referenced § 705, which makes no reference to part-day absences. In rejecting the affidavit, the district court relied upon the principle that a party's affidavit which contradicts his own prior deposition testimony should be disregarded on a motion for summary judgment. Mack v. United States, 814 F.2d 120, 124 (2d Cir.1987); see also Barwick v. Celotex Corp., 736 F.2d 946, 960 (4th Cir.1984). This reliance was misplaced. The principle set forth in Mack serves to prevent parties from using affidavits to create sham issues of fact, thereby destroying the utility of the summary judgment procedure. Barwick, 736 F.2d at 960. 19 We are not concerned here with a sham issue of fact used to prevent summary judgment; to the contrary, the meaning of Chief Carey's letter was a genuine factual issue that required resolution at trial. Moreover, Chief Carey's letter was not the equivalent of deposition testimony. In writing the letter, Chief Carey did not testify under oath, nor was he subject to cross-examination. In these circumstances, the district court should not have disregarded Chief Carey's affidavit on the sole basis that it contradicted his earlier letter. 20 Without the support of Chief Carey's letter, the evidence does not support the district court's conclusion that City policy required reductions in pay due to part-day absences. Section 2-98 of the City Code and § 705 of the City Personnel-Administrative Manual did not address part-day absences. Apart from Chief Carey's letter, all of the other evidence, including § 608 of the Manual, indicated that part-day absences would not cause reductions in pay. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court clearly erred in finding that the City had such a policy, and therefore erred in finding on that basis that the Officers were disqualified from FLSA exemption. 4