News Notes: FMLA Leave Did Not Affect Employee’s Exempt Status

Doris Rowe, an exempt supervisor at Laidlaw Transit Inc., was restricted to part-time work after suffering an on-the-job injury. Laidlaw paid her by the hour while she was on the reduced schedule and resumed paying her salary when she returned to work full time. Rowe sued Laidlaw for back overtime, arguing that by paying her on an hourly basis Laidlaw lost the right to treat her as an exempt employee. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Rowe’s case. The court explained that Rowe’s reduced schedule qualified as FMLA leave, even though Laidlaw did not designate it as such. And the FMLA specifically provides that FMLA-qualifying leave does not affect an employee’s exempt status.