Judge Ronnie Abrams
Owned by Iqbal, SCI Engineering provides inspectors to contractors on government projects to ensure compliance with plans and specifications. Vice president Satkunarajah is responsible for SCI's daily operations. SCI was a subcontractor for the Department of Transportation on a project to maintain bridges in the Interstate Highway system. Hired on March 30, 2009, Switzoor—who resigned in September 2011—was paid $48 hourly, with an overtime rate of $72, a rate exceeding SCI's reimbursement from clients. In 2010 SCI changed Switzoor's overtime rate to $50.13 hourly, representing time and a half of its $33.42 hourly reimbursement rate. The parties disputed if Switzoor accepted the lower overtime rate, under agreement with Satkunarajah so as to save his job. Finding both Iqbal and Satkunarajah employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) district court granted Switzoor summary judgment on his FLSA overtime claims. Switzoor's hourly rate remained at $48 throughout his employment. Even if Switzoor had agreed to reduce his regular hourly rate to $33.32, once SCI added $15 thereto for performance of additional services, $48 became the new hourly rate from which Switzoor's overtime rate should have been based.
