Oil and Gas Company Facing An Overtime Lawsuit

Joseph Gauthier, a field engineer has filed a $10 million class action lawsuit against Trican Well Service Ltd, an oil and gas well company, for misclassifying the field engineers as exempt employees in an attempt to deny them overtime wages. If the allegations are true, Trican would be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).   (Case No. 6:13-cv-00046)

The lawsuit is brought on behalf of salaried field engineers who worked for Trican and were allegedly denied their rights under applicable federal wage and hour laws.

According to the FLSA , the exemptions do not apply to manual laborers or other “blue collar” workers who perform work involving repetitive operations with  their hands, physical skill and energy.  FLSA-covered, non-management    employees in production, maintenance, construction and similar occupations such as carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, iron workers, craftsmen, operating engineers, longshoremen, construction workers and laborers are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay  under the FLSA, and are not exempt no matter how highly paid they might be

On behalf of the class members, Gauthier is asking for an award of more than $10 million in damages for unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated damages, civil penalties, interest, attorney’s fees and court costs.

If you have been misclassified and your employer owes you money, please give California Employment Attorney, Todd M. Friedman a call at 877-449-8898 for a free consultation.