Settlement Reached in Oil and Gas Worker Overtime Lawsuit

Schlumberger Technology Corp. pledged to pay $895,000 in 2018 to resolve claims in a class action oil and gas worker overtime lawsuit.

The class action lawsuit claimed that the company regularly forced their employees to work over 80 hours a week but failed to pay them overtime wages. The settlement Class included 49 MWD (measurement while drilling) field specialists or field engineers who worked for Schlumberger in Pennsylvania or Ohio within a three year period beginning in late November 2013.

Lead plaintiff Andrew F. filed his oil and gas worker overtime lawsuit against Schlumberger in November 2016. In his class action lawsuit, he claimed that he and other MWD employees were not paid the overtime they were owed.

Schlumberger has dubbed itself the “world’s leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry” on its website. However, Andrew claimed that this success was gained by failing to take care of their MWD workers.

MWD positions usually involve lots of manual labor but often do not require a college education. These employees reportedly were allowed to deviate from Schlumberger’s outlined plan for the day due to the flexible nature of their duties. As one of these employees, Andrew reportedly operated oilfield machinery, collected data, relayed information, and reported his work activities to his supervisors for analysis.

MWD workers for Schlumberger were reportedly expected to work 84 hour work weeks (12 hour shifts, 7 days a week) and were allegedly compensated with a base salary plus a day rate. Despite often working over their scheduled 84 hours a week, MWD workers were allegedly not paid overtime wages for their work.

“All these workers are regularly scheduled to work 84 hours per workweek, but often worked more,” Andrew claimed in his class action. “Instead of paying them overtime, SLB paid its [measurement while drilling] employees a base salary plus a day rate.”

The grueling schedule of an MWD worker allegedly including working and living on the oilfields for weeks at a time. Employees were reportedly put on either the night or day shift and expected to work their long shifts every day of the week.

In his class action lawsuit, Andrew claimed that he and other MWD workers were owed time and a half overtime wages for hours worked over 40 hours in a work week. The suit included claims under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act, and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Andrew sought backpay, liquidated damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The 2018 settlement resolves these claims and provides a different form of financial compensation without having to face the costs and risks associated with continuing litigation. Of the $894,250 settlement, around $313,000 will compensate for attorneys’ fees and $30,000 will cover court costs.

“There is a strong basis to believe that the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate,” the July motion said.

Although Schlumberger has agreed to settle the claims, they do not admit any wrongdoing. Instead, the settlement provides an opportunity for all parties to resolve the claims without the risks of further litigation.

The Class Action Oil and Gas Worker Overtime Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-01752 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

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