On May 20, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas conditionally certified a collective action of oilfield MWD Operators classified as independent contractors in Leiker v. Blue Star Directional, LLC, No. 4:15-cv-03571. It did so by signing the parties’ joint stipulation. In this independent contractor MWD operator overtime lawsuit, the court approved notice by mail and email. Jack Siegel, with co-counsel, represented the workers.
The parties filed a Joint Stipulation and Proposed Order under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They agreed the case “should be and, by this stipulation when signed by the Court, is conditionally certified as a collective action.” U.S. District Judge David Hittner signed it on May 20, 2016.
In close paraphrase, the order covered MWD Operators who worked for the defendants and were classified as independent contractors, from three years before the order to the date of the order. The court-approved notice was addressed to MWD Operators who worked for BlueStar Directional between April 2013 and the present.
Notice terms. Under the order:
The court-approved notice described the workers’ claims. It said the MWD Operators were misclassified as “Independent Contractors”, paid a flat day rate, and directed to work over 40 hours per workweek, but not paid overtime. The defendants denied those claims, and BlueStar Directional, LLC, which the notice called a holding company, also denied it was properly named in the suit.
The notice told workers they could join even if they had agreed to work as independent contractors, and that retaliation for taking part was unlawful. It also said: “The United States District Court approved this Notice but takes no position on the merits of the case.” This was an agreed order, not a ruling that the workers were employees or were owed overtime.
The FLSA’s overtime rules protect employees, not true independent contractors, and as general information, a job title or signed contractor agreement does not decide which one a worker is. Courts look at the economic reality of the work, such as the company’s control and the worker’s own investment and chance for profit or loss.
Each worker must opt in to an FLSA collective action in writing. Some federal appeals courts have since changed the notice-stage approach — the Fifth Circuit in Swales v. KLLM Transport Services (2021) and the Sixth Circuit in Clark v. A&L Homecare & Training Center (2023). Swales now governs federal courts in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Learn more about how FLSA collective actions work.
This page describes a 2016 court order. The time to join that collective was set by the court in that case. If you have worked in a similar role, the Siegel Law Group can evaluate your own claims.
Were you an MWD Operator labeled a contractor and paid a day rate with no overtime? Contact the Siegel Law Group for a free consultation.
Related rulings: Meyer v. Blue Star Directional, another Southern District of Texas case for MWD Operators.
They can be, because the label a company uses does not control. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, courts ask whether the worker is truly in business for himself or is economically dependent on the company. If an MWD operator is really an employee, the operator is generally owed overtime for hours over forty, even on a day rate.
Often, yes. In Leiker v. Blue Star Directional, the court-approved notice told MWD Operators they could join even if they had agreed to work as independent contractors. As a general rule, workers cannot sign away FLSA rights, and whether you were an employee depends on how the job actually worked, not on the paperwork.
Courts look past the label to the economic reality of the work. They weigh how much control the company had, how much the operator invested, and whether the operator had a real chance for profit or loss. A job title or a signed contractor agreement does not decide the question. The 2016 BlueStar order did not decide whether the MWD Operators were employees.
The notice in this case said it could not. It told MWD Operators they could take part even if they had agreed to work as independent contractors, and that firing or other adverse action by the defendants or a current employer for joining was unlawful. The FLSA bars retaliation against any employee who joins an overtime claim, and a contractor label does not decide who is an employee. Read about protection from retaliation.
The Siegel Law Group is a national overtime and wage law firm devoted entirely to representing workers denied overtime pay. Where many firms include wage cases as a small part of a broader employment practice, the Siegel Law Group has built its entire practice around overtime litigation — and the results reflect that commitment: $100M+ recovered for workers, 50+ class and collective action certifications, and 100+ federal lawsuits filed in 27+ federal courts nationwide. Founding attorney Jack Siegel is a Bloomberg BNA contributing author on wage and hour law.
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