Ahh, classic ATRL thread. There's a difference between having a hypothetical discussion and implying that the judge/lawyers are retarded because "duuhh, she wasn't being paid by the hour, so stupid". We really don't have to imply that they don't know how to do their job, insults are truly unnecessary. They know what they're doing. There is a case here, it's not so black and white like that - you just don't have the necessary details. They would not proceed if it was so simple as "the employee was on salary, close this case". Blatantly undermining someone else's intelligence to make a point isn't a good look.
Anyway, I don't live in the United States, so I had to Google what the
US Department of Labour says:
"
Salary for Workweek Exceeding 40 Hours:
A fixed salary for a regular workweek longer than 40 hours does not discharge FLSA statutory obligations. For example, an employee may be hired to work a 45 hour workweek for a weekly salary of $405. In this instance the regular rate is obtained by dividing the $405 straight-time salary by 45 hours, resulting in a regular rate of $9.00. The employee is then due additional overtime computed by multiplying the 5 overtime hours by one-half the regular rate of pay ($4.50 x 5 = $22.50).
Overtime Pay May Not Be Waived: The overtime requirement may not be waived by agreement between the employer and employees. An agreement that only 8 hours a day or only 40 hours a week will be counted as working time also fails the test of FLSA compliance.
An announcement by the employer that no overtime work will be permitted, or that overtime work will not be paid for unless authorized in advance, also will not impair the employee's right to compensation for compensable overtime hours that are worked."
So, yeah. I get the impression that Gaga/Terry were such close friends that they simply worked and chilled together often, and now Terry is pissed at her for whatever reason and someone has convinced her to cash in. Gaga just didn't expect her to do this to her. It's going to be difficult to differentiate between when she's "working" and when she's "off duty", that's what they payout will come down to. I probably would have made the same mistake, sadly. Just can't trust anyone these days.
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