DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The national law firm of Baron & Budd has filed a lawsuit against Nabors Drilling USA, LP, alleging the company failed to accurately calculate all overtime compensation owed to its drilling rig workers as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in addition to Pennsylvania State Law. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. (Civil Action No. 4:15-cv-00743)
The FLSA generally requires that employers must compensate employees working more than 40 hours per workweek at a rate that is not less than one and one-half times their regular rate of pay. The “regular rate” is defined as all remuneration paid either to the employee or on behalf of the employee. While it is common for oilfield employees to think the regular rate includes only their base salary, it commonly includes other types of compensation that must be factored into the hourly rate, such as well completion bonuses, safety pay, retention pay, and sometimes even per diem pay, depending on the situation.
The plaintiff worked on the defendant’s drilling rigs in and around the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, routinely working more than 40 hours during a seven-day workweek. The lawsuit alleges the company did not pay the plaintiff all overtime wages owed by failing to include all remuneration, such as retention bonuses and safety bonuses, when calculating the plaintiff’s regular rate of pay.
Under the FLSA, a prevailing employee is generally entitled to double the back wages owed due to a penalty known as “liquidated damages.” Similarly, successful employee plaintiffs are entitled to mandatory legal fees and costs to be paid by the employer defendant. However, the FLSA does not provide for a successful employer defendant to recover its legal fees should it win the case.
“Employers are responsible for including almost all forms of remuneration when calculating overtime pay for their workers,” said Allen Vaught, manager of the Employment Law Section of the national law firm of Baron & Budd. “In fact, the categories of compensation that an employer may properly exclude from calculating the overtime hourly rate of pay are few, and the employer, not the employee, has the legal burden in a case to prove that the compensation may be properly excluded. We will work diligently to make sure our clients obtain all of the compensation they deserve.”
Current and former employees of Nabors Drilling USA, LP who believe that they may not have received the correct amount of overtime compensation may be eligible to seek back pay and other damages for up to a preceding three year period of time and forward. Please contact the national law firm of Baron & Budd by sending an email to info@baronbudd.com or calling 1.866.844.4556 to see if you qualify.
ABOUT BARON & BUDD, P.C.
The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Austin and Los Angeles, is a nationally recognized law firm with a nearly 40-year history of "Protecting What's Right" for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd's size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals and government and business entities in areas as diverse as dangerous pharmaceuticals and medical devices, environmental contamination, the Gulf oil spill, financial fraud, overtime violations, deceptive advertising, automotive defects, trucking accidents, nursing home abuse, and asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma.
