The answer to that may be yes and perhaps no.  The recent case  Barney v. Goldoro Devs., Inc., No. 23-CV-81007-RLR, 2025 LX 16394 (S.D. Fla. May 21, 2025), addressed that issue, and serves as a warning to exempt employees.  In this case Ms. Barney was an exempt employee for a company doing business as Bluewater Radiology. Apparently, she was hired by Ciro Adamo. 

 The employment relation ended, and the employer refused to pay for Ms. Barney's last 2 weeks of work. Further the employer refused to pay 5 weeks of vacation.  Suit was filed and claims were asserted under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a Florida statute regarding minimum wage, breach of contract and breach of oral agreement as well as misrepresentation.  At first, the employer had counsel but then counsel withdrew from the case.  About 2 months later Ms. Barney filed 3 motions for summary judgment and the employer failed to respond to the motions with no counsel.

 As a result, the court entered judgment in Ms. Barney's favor under the FLSA, the Florida minimum wage law and for breach of oral agreement contract. The court did not rule on the misrepresentation claim.  Damages of $24,230.79 and attorney's fees of $27,268 as well as some costs were awarded to Ms. Barney.   Ms. Barney sought to collect the monies awarded from the employer.

 The employer finally obtained counsel.  The time for an appeal had passed, however counsel filed a Rule 60(b) motion with the court seeking to reopen and set aside the judgment for mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect. There is a one-year time limit to file such a motion that it also must be filed within a reasonable time. Counsel argued that the court erred in granting relief under the FLSA because the FLSA does not protect exempt employees. Further counsel argued that the Florida minimum wage law does not apply because it incorporates the provisions of the FLSA. 

 The court found that although the employer had proffered evidence indicating that perhaps the employee was not entitled to a judgment on the breach of contract claim the evidence before the court before judgment was entered was undisputed by the employer and so the court did not err in entering an award of $13,461.55 which was the damages under the breach of contract apart from the FLSA.

 The court acknowledged that the FLSA claim could not be applied to Ms. Barney. It was undisputed that she was exempt. The court in her defense noted, “Although 29 C.F.R. § 541.602(a)(1) states that ‘an exempt employee must receive the full salary for any week in which the employee performs any work without regard to the number of days or hours worked,' it does not provide a right to sue. And 29 U.S.C. § 216—which does provide a right to sue—covers only non-exempt employees. 29 U.S.C. § 213”. Barney at *9.  

 There was one additional wrinkle, which was whether Ms. Barney was converted to a nonexempt employee and thus entitled to the protection of the FLSA.  Under 29 C.F.R. § 541.603(b), the FLSA regulation, if there is an actual practice of improper deductions from an exempt employees salary the exemption is lost. However, the court noted the 11^th Circuit had already addressed that issue in Nicholson v. World Bus. Network, Inc., 105 F.3d 1361 (11th Cir. 1997). The exemption is not lost simply because the employer withheld the final paycheck. Thus Ms. Barney had no protection under the FLSA.

 Likewise, the court found she had erred under the Florida minimum wage law because it imported FLSA provisions.  That left only the breach of contract claims.  As to the judgment entered against Ciro Adamo, the court completely relieved this individual from all judgments because the only count against him was the misrepresentation count. The court also vacated the attorney's fees. The case was reopened and set on the docket. The employer, despite inability to keep counsel, snatched a partial victory from the jaws of defeat.

 Thus, exempt employees need to be very careful regarding terms of employment as the FLSA may not provide any protection, and a breach of contract claim may not allow an award of attorney's fees as here.  So, can an employer refuse to pay your last paycheck and vacation time?  Yes, under the FLSA and perhaps no under breach of contract.  However, as a practical matter, for a breach of contract claim, if the amount at stake is not sufficient to justify the cost of proceeding with litigation, it may be difficult to obtain counsel.  Unless you have a contract of employment with an attorney fee provision in it, there will be no award of attorney's fees.