A Health, Safety and Environment (“HSE”) Advisor recently filed suit in federal court in Houston, alleging that he and other HSE Advisors working for RWDY, Inc. (“RWDY”), Brian Owen and/or Marathon Oil Company (“Marathon”) were misclassified as independent contractors and denied overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The lawsuit alleges that these three defendants were formerly the joint and/or co-employers of the plaintiff, and that the plaintiff interviewed and was hired by RWDY and Mr. Owen, and he worked exclusively as an HSE Advisor for Marathon, inspecting various drilling rigs operated by Marathon, using a defined list of guidelines and regulations, to ensure that Marathon’s drilling rigs were in compliance with occupational safety and environmental rules and regulations.  The lawsuit alleges that while employed by Defendants, the plaintiff was misclassified as an independent contractor, despite the fact that he worked full time for Defendants, and virtually every aspect of his job was controlled by Defendants.

The complaint claims that the Defendants misclassified the plaintiff as an independent contractor to avoid paying employment taxes, benefits and overtime.  During his time with Defendants, the plaintiff asserts that he typically worked between 16-20 hours per day, and generally worked two weeks on and two weeks off, and that he received a day rate regardless of the number of hours he worked in a given day or week, and never received overtime pay.  The lawsuit was filed as a collective action, which the plaintiff proposes to consist of current and former HSE Advisors or other job title performing substantially similar job duties as Plaintiff who worked for Defendants in the three years preceding the filing of this suit and who were not paid overtime compensation at one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for each hour worked in excess of forty in a week in violation of the FLSA.

Oilfield workers are all too frequently denied overtime pay.  Specifically, HSE Advisors and/or HSE Consultants are often misclassified as exempt and paid “straight time,” a salary or a day rate and wrongfully refused overtime pay.  If you or a friend or family member have not been paid overtime by an oilfield service, oil and gas producer, or pipeline inspection company, consult an experienced overtime attorney to learn your legal rights.

About the author: Josh Borsellino is a Texas attorney who represents workers to get them the overtime pay they deserve.   For a free consultation, call 817.908.9861 or 432.242.7118 or complete this online contact form.