Part of our oilfield overtime cases →
In this Double D Tong overtime lawsuit, Minyard v. Double D Tong, Inc., No. 7:16-cv-00313-RAJ (W.D. Tex.), the court granted the workers’ motion for limited reconsideration and expanded the FLSA conditional certification from two job titles to all non-exempt casing workers.
On February 27, 2017, Senior Judge Robert A. Junell granted conditional certification (Doc. 35) but limited the collective to Field Hands and Crew Pushers.
On March 21, 2017, Judge Junell granted the motion for limited reconsideration and expanded the collective to “All current and former non-exempt casing workers employed by Defendants during the three-year period before the date the Court authorizes notice.” The court explained: “Because Plaintiffs allege that the compensation scheme is in of itself a violation of the FLSA, no further factual inquiry into the job duties of each plaintiff is necessary.”
When the claim is about how everyone was paid, job titles matter less. Here the court let notice reach every non-exempt casing worker, not just two titles.
Conditional certification is an early step. It is not a finding that Double D Tong broke the law.
Under the FLSA, the question for conditional certification is whether workers are “similarly situated.” At the time of this 2017 order, many federal courts used a lenient two-step approach. Some federal appeals courts have since changed this 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.
If you are an oilfield casing worker, whatever your job title, and you were paid under the same pay plan as your coworkers without proper overtime, you may be able to join a collective action challenging that plan.
A motion for reconsideration asks the court to revisit and change a ruling it has already made. Courts grant them only in limited circumstances.
The workers alleged that the pay plan itself violated the FLSA. The court held that, because of that allegation, no further inquiry into each worker's job duties was necessary at that stage.
An FLSA collective action allows similarly situated workers to join together in one lawsuit. The process begins with conditional certification, where the court authorizes notice to potential opt-in plaintiffs. Workers then have a set period to join. After the opt-in period, the employer may challenge the collective at the decertification stage.
Often, yes. In this case the court expanded the collective beyond two job titles because the claim was about the pay plan. Whether you are similarly situated depends on the facts of your case.
An expanded conditional certification means notice can be sent to a broader group of workers, giving more people the opportunity to opt in and pursue their overtime claims. The case then proceeds through discovery and toward trial or settlement.
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.
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]
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Attorney responsible: Jack L. Siegel, Siegel Law Group PLLC, Dallas, Texas.
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"Certified" means a judge agreed the case could go forward for a group of workers at once, not just the one person who filed it. It is a step in the case, not the end of it.
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