Case at a glance

• Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
• Case: Key v. Butch’s Rat Hole & Anchor Service, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-01171-RB-KRS (court opinions)
• Judge: Robert C. Brack
• Workers: 160 oilfield workers in a New Mexico class
• Claims: Unpaid overtime under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act
• Result: The court found the class settlement fair, reasonable and adequate; no class member objected (Doc. 106, Feb. 15, 2022). Final approval and final judgment followed on March 30, 2022 (Doc. 110). The amount is confidential.
• Key ruling: In the final order approving the settlement and entering final judgment, entered March 30, 2022 (Doc. 110), Senior Judge Robert C. Brack found the prerequisites of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) and (b)(3) satisfied and permanently certified a 160-member settlement class of New Mexico Casing Floor Hands on New Mexico Minimum Wage Act claims, for settlement purposes only.³
• Our role: The court appointed Jack Siegel, among other counsel, as settlement class counsel²³

Part of our oilfield overtime cases →

Butch’s Rat Hole oilfield workers: class settlement approved

The workers alleged that Butch’s Rat Hole & Anchor Service did not pay them the overtime premium the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act requires for hours over 40. The company contended that it properly paid class members on a piece-rate basis.¹

Notice went to 160 class members. No objections were received. On February 15, 2022, Senior Judge Robert C. Brack found the proposed settlement fair, reasonable and adequate and approved the incentive award to the named plaintiff, in a memorandum opinion and interim order that granted the approval motion in part.¹

On March 30, 2022, Judge Brack entered the final order approving the settlement agreement and entering final judgment. The order approves the settlement of the "New Mexico Minimum Wage Act class action claims as fair, reasonable and adequate" under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e)(2); defines the settlement class as the 160 individuals "who worked in New Mexico as Casing Floor Hands during the three years prior to the filing of this lawsuit"; finds the prerequisites of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) and (b)(3) satisfied for the settlement class; and holds that "[p]ermanent certification of the Rule 23 Settlement Class for settlement purposes is the best means for protecting the interests of all the Rule 23 Settlement Class Members, and this class is permanently certified for those purposes." That certification is for settlement purposes only, as the order states; it was not a contested, litigated certification. The same order appointed Jack Siegel, among other counsel, as settlement class counsel.³ The amount is confidential.

The legal issue

Piece-rate pay does not cancel overtime. Under federal law, a worker paid by the piece is still owed half the regular rate for each hour over 40, and the regular rate is figured from all piece-rate earnings for the week. 29 C.F.R. § 778.111(a). The New Mexico Minimum Wage Act has its own overtime requirement for hours over 40.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much was the Butch’s Rat Hole settlement?

The amount is confidential.

What did the workers claim?

That they worked more than 40 hours in a week without the overtime premium New Mexico law requires.

Are oilfield workers entitled to overtime in New Mexico?

Often, yes. Day rates, piece rates and salaries do not by themselves make a field worker exempt. It depends on the job and the pay plan.

Did you do this job somewhere else? Tell us about it.

If you did this kind of work for another employer and weren't paid overtime for hours over 40, tell us your job title, your employer and the state you worked in. We'll tell you plainly whether we think you have a case. Federal law makes it illegal to retaliate against you for asking.

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About Siegel Law Group

Siegel Law Group PLLC concentrates in unpaid overtime cases under the FLSA and state wage laws. The firm has filed more than 100 federal overtime cases, obtained 50+ class and collective certifications in 20 federal judicial districts across 15 states, and recovered more than $100 million for workers. It has never represented an employer in a wage case. Free consultation. Contingency fee: we advance case costs, and they are repaid from any recovery. No recovery, no fee and no costs. Phone: (214) 790-4454 | Email: [email protected]

These are results in other people's cases. Every case depends on its own facts and law. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This website contains attorney advertising.

Attorney responsible: Jack L. Siegel, Siegel Law Group PLLC, Dallas, Texas.

Notes

1. Key v. Butch’s Rat Hole & Anchor Serv., Inc., No. 2:17-cv-01171, Doc. 106 (D.N.M. Feb. 15, 2022) (memorandum opinion and interim order) (finding the proposed settlement and incentive award "fair, reasonable, and adequate"; notice mailed to 160 putative class members; "No objections were received").
2. Declaration of Jack Siegel ¶ 13(d), filed in Weeks v. Matrix Absence Mgmt., No. 2:20-cv-00884 (D. Ariz. July 6, 2022) (listing Key among cases in which Jack Siegel was approved as class counsel).
3. Key v. Butch’s Rat Hole & Anchor Serv., Inc., No. 2:17-cv-01171-RB-KRS, Doc. 110 (D.N.M. Mar. 30, 2022) (final order approving settlement agreement and entering final judgment, signed by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack) (approving "the Settlement Agreement and the Settlement of the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act class action claims as fair, reasonable and adequate based on consideration of the criteria set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e)(2)"; defining a "Settlement Class" of the "160 individuals" identified on Exhibit B, "comprised of individuals who worked in New Mexico as Casing Floor Hands during the three years prior to the filing of this lawsuit"; finding "that the prerequisites of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) and (b)(3) have been satisfied for the Rule 23 Settlement Class Members for settlement purposes only" and that "[p]ermanent certification of the Rule 23 Settlement Class for settlement purposes is the best means for protecting the interests of all the Rule 23 Settlement Class Members, and this class is permanently certified for those purposes"; appointing Jack Siegel, among other counsel, as settlement class counsel; and noting that the approval motion was "GRANTED in part as described in the Court’s February 15, 2022 Memorandum Opinion and Interim Order (Doc 106)").