Rhea v. General Atomics
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Plaintiff-appellant Lori Rhea was employed at General Atomics in a salaried position that qualified her as an exempt employee for the purposes of overtime pay under the federal and California wage and hour laws. The issue this case presented to the Court of Appeal centered on plaintiff's employer, General Atomics' employment practice of requiring exempt employees to use their annual leave hours when they are absent from work for portions of a day. Although "Conley v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co." (131 Cal.App.4th 260 (2005)) established that California law does not prohibit an employer "from following the established federal policy permitting employers to deduct from exempt employees' vacation leave, when available, on account of partial-day absences," plaintiff contended that Conley was wrongly decided, or in the alternative, that even under Conley, General Atomics was not permitted to deduct from an exempt employee's leave bank when the employee is absent for less than four hours. The Court of Appeal concluded that plaintiff's contentions were without merit, and accordingly it affirmed the trial court's judgment in favor of General Atomics.
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