Judge Leonard Wexler
Harper and other telephone claims representatives (TCR) employed by GEICO adjust damages claims arising from coverage or liability issues. They gather facts for use by GEICO’s proprietary Claim IQ software. The court conditionally certified Harpers’ purported collective action asserting TCR misclassification as “administrative” employees exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements. Harper contended that Claim IQ dictated the outcome of all claims handling, and that members of the collective action were responsible only for gathering and entering facts generating a binding coverage decision. District court granted GEICO summary judgment on the elements of its claimed FLSA exemption, as articulated in 29 CFR §541.200(a). It found the primary duty of GEICO’s TCRs the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to GEICO’s business operations. Further, the evidence was beyond dispute that the TCRs’ duties included the exercise of discretion and judgment necessary for the exemption’s applicability. Guided by GEICO’s manuals, claims software and supervisors, TCRs consider each claim separately and make independent discretionary judgments along the way to final claims adjustment.
