Law Grad Loses Suit Seeking Overtime Pay for Work as Clerk at Law Firm
California employers aren’t legally required to pay licensed professionals time-and-a-half for working overtime.
But that rule doesn’t apply to an unlicensed clerk doing similar work for a law firm, a law school graduate successfully contended in a Marin County lawsuit. Yesterday, however, an appeals court overruled that decision, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
Because Matthew Zelasko-Barrett employed “a significant level of discretion” while working as a clerk for the Brayton-Purcell law firm before he passed the state bar exam, it wasn’t required to pay overtime, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco held in a unanimous decision.
Zelasko-Barrett referred the newspaper’s request for comment to his lawyer, who wasn’t immediately available.
A Metropolitan News-Enterprise article provides more details and Leagle provides a copy of the opinion.
Updated on Aug. 19 to link to Metropolitan News-Enterprise article and Leagle opinion copy.
