Given that the police manual provided for disciplinary deductions in pay for the police officers, which is generally sufficient to preclude exempt status under the FLSA, the question was whether the possible but unlikely disciplinary deductions in pay, as provided for by the police manual, were enough to render the petitioners' pay "subject to" disciplinary deductions specifically within the meaning of the salary-basis test.
Given that the police manual's guidelines for disciplinary deductions in pay generally precluded exempt status under the FLSA, the issue was whether the possible but improbable disciplinary deductions allowed for by the police manual were sufficient to render the petitioners' pay "liable to" disciplinary deductions specifically within the meaning of the salary-basis test.