Jeremy Gordon v. MODEL N, INC., a Delaware corporation

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JEREMY GORDON,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
MODEL N, INC., a Delaware corporation,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 16-16203
D.C. No. 3:15-cv-01423-WHA
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
William Alsup, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted December 5, 2017**
San Francisco, California
Before: GRABER and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges, and ROSENTHAL,*** Chief
District Judge.
FILED
DEC 07 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
*** The Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief United States District Judge
for the Southern District of Texas, sitting by designation.

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Model N, Inc. appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment that
Jeremy Gordon, Model N’s principal technical education consultant, was not an
administrative employee exempt from overtime pay under the California Labor
Code. Reviewing the grant of summary judgment de novo, Fuller v. Idaho Dep’t
of Corr., 865 F.3d 1154, 1161 (9th Cir. 2017), we affirm.
As part of Model N’s global customer-service department, Gordon taught
Model N’s customers how to use its software. Besides his trainer responsibilities,
Gordon created a “curriculum style guide”; a “clean training environment,” which
saved Model N approximately $100,000; an instructor’s manual on training;
training materials modified to meet customers’ needs; and a “Wiki” to “organize
departmental information and improve on-boarding time for new hires.” Gordon
did not negotiate contracts, develop programming or technical applications, or
design or code any of Model N’s software.
Section 515(a) of the California Labor Code exempts executive,
administrative, and professional employees from overtime pay. California
Industrial Welfare Commission regulations define the administrative exemption as
follows:
[A]ny employee:
(a) Whose duties and responsibilities involve . . . :
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(I) The performance of office or non-manual work directly
related to management policies or general business operations
of his/her employer or his employer’s customers;
. . . .
(b) Who customarily and regularly exercises discretion and
independent judgment; and
. . . .
(d) Who performs under only general supervision work along
specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience, or
knowledge; [and]
. . . .
(f) Who is primarily engaged in duties that meet the test of the
exemption. . . .
(g) Such employee must also earn a monthly salary equivalent to no
less than two (2) times the state minimum wage for full-time
employment. Full-time employment is defined in California Labor
Code Section 515(c) as 40 hours per week.
8 CAL. CODE REGS. § 11040(1)(A)(2).
The district court held, and the record shows, that “[a]lthough Gordon’s
work related to the heart of Model N’s business, and the service he provided was
essential to its success, his role in that work did not relate to the general operations
of the business.” Gordon’s work did not relate to Model N’s or its customers’
management policies or general business operations. See Eicher v. Advanced Bus.
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Integrators, Inc., 61 Cal. Rptr. 3d 114, 119 (Cal. Ct. App. 2007). That is enough to
make the exemption inapplicable.
After the district court entered its order, the parties stipulated to dismissal,
with prejudice, of Gordon’s claims for Model N’s failure to itemize wage
statements, for waiting-time penalties under the California Labor Code, and for
overtime pay and liquidated damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act. We do
not consider claims that the parties agreed to dismiss before the district court ruled
on the remaining claims. See Am. Bankers Mortg. Corp. v. Fed. Home Loan
Mortg. Corp., 75 F.3d 1401, 1413 (9th Cir. 1996).
AFFIRMED.
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