Corbin v. Time Warner Entm’t

Plaintiff filed suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., alleging that he lost $15.02 and one minute due to his employer's, TWEAN, compensation policy that rounds all employee time stamps to the nearest quarter-hour. The district court granted summary judgment to TWEAN. The court discerned no reason to analyze overtime minutes any differently than regular-time minutes, and the district court committed no error by treating them the same. The court rejected plaintiff's argument that TWEAN’s rounding policy violates 29 C.F.R. 785.48(b), the federal rounding regulation, because TWEAN’s rounding policy is neutral on its face where TWEAN rounds all employee time punches and where his compensation records demonstrate that TWEAN’s rounding policy is neutral in application. The court found that TWEAN’s rounding policy comports with the federal rounding regulation. The court also concluded that the district court properly classified the one minute of uncompensated time as de minimis and appropriately granted summary judgment to TWEAN on plaintiff's “logging-in” claim. Additionally, the district court did not err by limiting consideration of plaintiff’s rounding claim to the time period after the implementation of the Avaya/Kronos timekeeping system. Finally, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment as to plaintiff’s pre-May 4, 2010 rounding claims; the district court properly granted summary judgment as to the California Labor Code 226 claim; and, because the court held that the district court properly granted summary judgment to TWEAN as to plaintiff’s individual rounding claim, there is no need to remand this case to the district court for further proceedings. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Corbin v. Time Warner Entm't" on Justia Law