Plaintiff Files Misclassification Lawsuit for Inaccurate Independent Contractor Status

A plaintiff, Jimmy H., files a lawsuit in Louisiana federal court alleging his former employer of violating federal and state labor laws.

According to the misclassification lawsuit, Jimmy accuses the defendant of knowingly failing to compensate him for overtime hours he had worked, a federal requirement under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The misclassification lawsuit states that in violating the FLSA, the defendant failed to pay him and other members any overtime; by doing so, this classified him instead as an independent contractor.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “the FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.”

As a correctly classified employee instead of an independent contractor, Jimmy alleges he was owed compensation of one and one-half times his regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 40 per week.

Jimmy’s prior employer is Bedrock Petroleum Consultants LLC, a company organized under Texas law, that specializes in providing oilfield services. The company works to place its employees with its customers to assist in work on their projects.

The misclassification lawsuit contends that Jimmy worked between June 2014 and June 2016, two years in which he was misclassified as an independent contractor.

He had also held the position as a “completions consultant,” where he was responsible for “monitoring the drilling completions and workover of oil and gas wells on behalf of the company that operates the well.”

While working for Bedrock, he remained under his employer’s control. In addition, the defendant also informed him of where he would be where working, determined his rate of pay, and stated that his employer held the ability to terminate Jimmy’s employment.

According to the misclassification lawsuit, the points above support a finding that Jimmy should be classified correctly as an employee and not as an independent contractor.

The Fair Labor Standards Act Facts

The Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) was specifically enacted to protect workers against wage and hour violations. Employees, such as Jimmy, may become victims of overtime and minimum wage violations. The employees who have been denied their proper compensation may file misclassification lawsuits to recoup their unpaid wages.

Violations under the federal FLSA are filed as “collective actions” against an employer, while violations under the state are typically filed as traditional class action lawsuits. An employee, however, that has fallen victim to these violations may recover unpaid wages through both types of legal action.

Hundreds of lawsuits alleging violations of the FLSA result in wage and hour settlements. These settlements can pay out millions of dollars which help recover the unpaid wages owed to employees.

Common allegations purporting the violations of the FLSA include: misclassification of independent contractors, the misclassification of exempt employees, off-the-clock work, unpaid on-duty meal and rest breaks, improper classification of an employees’ rate, and improper deductions from salaried employees.

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