Driggers v. Cable Television Intsallation & Service, Inc.

This case was before the Court on Defendant’s Motion seeking summary judgment finding that Plaintiff was subject to the Administrative Exemption of the FLSA. Reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff, as the non-moving party, the Court denied Defendant’s Motion.

The Court assumed the following facts, as averred by Plaintiff:

“Plaintiff was employed by CTIS, a cable and internet installation services provider. He began his employment in dispatch and then became a cable installer (“Subcontractor”) for two to three years. Subcontractors are independent contractors required to use their own equipment and tools in their installation work as well as provide their own insurance. In May 2005, Plaintiff began working as a Field Coordinator, later called a Field Advisor, and continued in this position until he was terminated in May 2008.

As Field Coordinator, Plaintiff was assigned a hub, which was a geographical area based on zip code. Each morning, he handed out work assignments to subcontractors in his hub, making the assignments based on the time of the scheduled work and, when the workload permitted, on subcontractor ability and experience. Plaintiff also reviewed and entered subcontractor paperwork, which included checking billing documents to assure they were filled out in compliance with the standards of CTIS and its customer Bright House. He adjusted billing codes to comply with the job specifications and billing rules, often seeking guidance from Bright House.

Plaintiff was responsible for informing the subcontractors in his hub of changes to job specifications put out by Bright House and CTIS. He sometimes explained what the changes meant and suggested approaches to performing the job to the new specifications. If a subcontractor had a problem with an installation, Plaintiff would try to help the subcontractor figure out how to make the job comply with specifications, and if he could not, he would contact Bright House for further instructions. Plaintiff did not have the authority to deviate from job specifications without first consulting Bright House.

In the afternoons Plaintiff performed inspections. He had the authority to inspect installations of his choice to ensure compliance with job specifications. The number of these quality control inspections varied based upon Plaintiff’s workload in the office and number of damage inspections assigned by Bright House. If his quality control inspection revealed deviations from specifications, Plaintiff would have the installation subcontractor fix the problem to meet job specifications or assign another subcontractor to do so. Occasionally Plaintiff performed the repair work himself When customers had complaints about installations, they contacted Bright House or CTIS who in turn would contact Plaintiff, instructing him to inspect the damage. Plaintiff performed these inspections to determine if the subcontractor was responsible for the damage. If the subcontractor made a mistake that caused the damage, the subcontractor and his insurance were responsible. If the damage was caused by the subcontractor following specifications, Plaintiff would contact CTIS for approval of a repair or assign another subcontractor to handle the issue. If the subcontractor was not responsible for the damage, Plaintiff would not offer repairs and the customer would have to contact CTIS to take the claim further.”

The Court noted, “[i]n their filings, both parties state that Plaintiff satisfies the first and second prongs of the administrative exemption. Defendant has described Plaintiff’s primary duty as quality assurance, including assigning work orders, communicating changes in job specifications, checking subcontractor paperwork for compliance with policy, and ensuring subcontractor installations met specifications and quality standards. For the purposes of summary judgment, Plaintiff has agreed to this description and its satisfying the second prong. Plaintiff challenges only the use of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance in the performance of Plaintiffs primary duty as required in the third prong.”

Although the Court agreed with Defendant, that a jury could find that, since 4 or the 10 tests for independent judgment and discretion laid out in the CFR were satisfied, it was a question of fact of the jury whether Plaintiff met the requisite independent judgment and discretion element of the Administrative Exemption. Thus, the Court denied summary judgment stating, “[t]he undisputed facts allow a jury to reasonably find that Plaintiff has met some or none of the factors to be considered for the applicability of the third prong of the administrative exemption. The jury could determine that Plaintiffs use of skill and experience in the performance of his primary duty and his limited leeway in decisions do not allow him to qualify under the administrative exemption. Cotton v. HFS-USA, Inc., No. 8:08-cv-251-T-33TGW, 2009 WL 1396351 (M.D.Fla. May 18, 2009) (summary judgment order) (finding an employee who performed quality control inspections through comparison to standards and who assigned subcontractor work and repairs without direct supervision did not exercise discretion and independent judgment because most of his decisions were based on experience in the industry, well-established standards, and the use of common sense, and because he sought approval for deviations from specifications and frequently spoke with his superiors). The motion for summary judgment is therefore denied.”