Auer v. Robbins

A group of police officers (plaintiffs) sued members of the board of police commissioners (defendants) for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which exempts employees paid on a bona fide "salary basis" not subject to reduction for variations in work quality or quantity. The officers argued a police manual listing disciplinary pay deductions for rule violations meant their pay was "subject to" such reductions, disqualifying them from the salary-basis exemption. The Secretary of Labor's regulation and its interpretation required an actual practice, or significant likelihood, of such deductions, not merely a listed possibility. Lower courts found the officers exempt, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.