Workers Allege Overtime Pay Violations in Pennsylvania Employment Lawsuit

Pittsburgh, PAIt may be based in Texas, but Express Energy Services LLC (Express Energy) is nonetheless facing a Pennsylvania employment class-action lawsuit after a wireline operator and a wireline hand claim they routinely work 84-hour weeks without receiving overtime pay. The plaintiffs allege the violations run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and various other statutes observed by the state of Pennsylvania, and one other state.

The plaintiffs claim that Express Energy routinely schedules workers for 12-hour shifts, but does not pay overtime for work performed beyond the standard eight-hour day, as mandated by federal and state laws. The plaintiffs also maintain they are not classed as management, and do not perform any duties that could be construed as supervisory in nature.

Employees actively working in management are routinely paid a higher salary in exchange for an expectation for additional hours as needed, and thus are normally exempt from overtime pay.

Plaintiffs in this Pennsylvania employment law class action hold that the foregoing is not the case here and thus, employees should be paid overtime.

The proposed class action alleges the defendant engages in two particular payment practices that violate FLSA and Pennsylvania labor law. The plaintiffs allege that Express Energy provides a base salary plus bonus, and an hourly rate plus bonus - but that the bonus pay is not included in the rate calculation.

The plaintiffs in the case are identified as Russell Cornell and Jonathan Snyder. They both contend in their Pennsylvania employment class action that they routinely put in at least 84 hours per week performing manual labor. Their work, or so it is alleged, is not managerial or supervisory in nature.

In addition to identifying violations of FLSA, the plaintiffs allege violations to other aspects of Pennsylvania labor law as well as similar statues in the state of Ohio, a state in which they also performed work on behalf of Express Energy. Those statutes include the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act, as well as the Ohio Prompt Pay Act. The plaintiffs maintain that all identified statutes observe provisions for the mandated payment of overtime for all hours worked beyond 40 hours in any given week.

There have been similar lawsuits filed previously. In mid-September a judge in federal court in Pennsylvania granted final approval to a settlement between ROC Service Company LLC and no fewer than 134 field workers with regard to similar overtime issues. That settlement is worth $1.25 million.

This case, filed with the help of their Pennsylvania attorney, is Cornell et al. v. Express Energy Services LLC; Case No. 2:15-cv-01261, in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.