Court Opinion

ID: 9473670
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:36:14.833294+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:40.277706
License: Public Domain

HATCHETT, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
The principal issues in this case are factual. The first is whether the evidence presented in a bench trial showed that the salesman’s salary was paid weekly. The district judge heard the evidence and found that the salesman was paid monthly. The district court found:
The plaintiff [Olson] relied on conclusions argued from the record as to the operation of the pay plan to attempt to establish that the payment period was weekly. Absent plaintiff’s [Olson] testimony, the record equally supports the defendant’s testimony that the pay plan was monthly. The plaintiff has not met his burden of proof.
The law of this circuit dictates that we review that factual finding under the clearly erroneous rule. Morgado v. Birmingham-Jefferson County Civil Defense Corps, 706 F.2d 1184 (11th Cir.1983); rule 52(a) Fed.R.Civ.P.
The second principal issue is whether the district court was correct in finding that the appellee, Superior Pontiac-GMC, Inc., acted in good faith in relying upon the Wage and Hour Field Operations Handbook, regarding the carrying forward of excess commissions into subsequent settlement periods. The district court found:
In a good faith application of the handbook, the defendant [Superior Pontiac-GMC, Inc.], believed that plaintiff [Olson] had been compensated in accordance with the handbook’s interpretation of the minimum wage laws as applied to automobile salesmen. Plaintiff [Olson] has not presented any proof that defendant was not acting in good faith in relying on the handbook amendment.
The majority recites interesting principles of law with which I generally agree. The appellant lost the case for failure to present evidence to support his allegations; he did not lose the case due to misapplied rules of law. I would affirm the district court.