Part of our oilfield overtime cases →
Employers often save their strongest attack on an unpaid overtime collective for the motion to decertify. In this Peak Pressure Control overtime lawsuit, the court refused to break the collective apart. In Snively v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC, No. MO:15-CV-00134-DC (W.D. Tex.), the Siegel Law Group served as lead counsel for approximately 70 Pressure Control Operators.
After the opt-in period closed, the defendants moved to decertify the FLSA collective (Doc. 146). Judge David Counts denied the motion. The case was set for a bench trial, and the court explained why it would keep the operators together:
"The Court would rather proceed with a potentially difficult collective trial than to decapitate the hydra and watch as the single trial sprouts into 70 potential mini-trials."
Decertification is the employer’s main chance to break a collective action apart before trial. When a court denies decertification, the workers keep going as a group instead of facing dozens of separate lawsuits.
At the notice stage, the defendants, Peak Pressure Control and Nine Energy Service, pointed to the Motor Carrier Act exemption and the highly compensated exemption. Under 29 C.F.R. § 541.601(d), the highly compensated exemption applies only to employees whose primary duty includes office or non-manual work.
If you worked as a Pressure Control Operator or in a similar oilfield role and were not paid overtime, this ruling shows a court keeping a collective together through the decertification stage when the workers were paid under the same plan.
Earlier in this case, the court conditionally certified a collective of Pressure Control Operators in 2016.
When a court denies decertification, it means the collective action will proceed as a group rather than being broken into individual lawsuits. The court has determined that the workers are sufficiently similarly situated to maintain collective treatment through trial.
Representative evidence allows workers to present common proof about the employer's pay practices rather than proving each individual claim separately. This can include testimony from sample workers, company pay policies, and aggregate data about hours worked and wages paid.
After conditional certification, workers opt in during a notice period. The employer then typically moves for decertification, arguing that the workers are not truly similarly situated. If the collective survives decertification, the case proceeds to trial or settlement.
The opt-in period for this specific case may have closed. However, if you worked as a PCO or in a similar oilfield role and were denied overtime by Peak Pressure Control, Nine Energy Services, or another oilfield employer, you may have your own claim. Contact the Siegel Law Group for a free evaluation.
The Motor Carrier Act (MCA) exemption removes FLSA overtime protections for certain workers in the transportation industry whose work affects the safety of operation of motor vehicles in interstate commerce. Oilfield employers sometimes attempt to apply this exemption to field workers, but it has specific requirements that many oilfield workers do not meet.
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]
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.
Automated chat. Not legal advice, not a substitute for an attorney, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Send your job title and how you are paid — no documents, no detailed case facts. An inquiry does not by itself stop the firm from representing someone else in a related matter.
Attorney advertising. Jack L. Siegel of Siegel Law Group PLLC, Dallas, Texas, is responsible for this content.
Before you start
We opened this box, not you. The notice above applies. Start when you are ready, or close it and nothing happens.
Search by company or industry to see overtime case activity.
This is a list of cases this firm filed. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
"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.
Attorney advertising. Case information shown is taken from public court filings and court-approved settlements in cases this firm brought. Every case turns on its own facts and on the law of the court where it is heard. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and a certification or ruling in one case does not guarantee the same result in another. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and reading it or sending a message does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Jack L. Siegel of Siegel Law Group PLLC, Dallas, Texas, is responsible for the content of this page. He appears in federal courts in other states by admission to those courts or by leave of court, and is not licensed in every state shown in this list.
