On Wednesday, Joseph Adams sued his former employer, Gyro Technologies, Inc., which does business under the name Vaughn Energy Services, in an employment dispute. The complaint contends that Gyro failed to pay him overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The putative class action accuses Gyro of misclassifying “wireline operator” employees as exempt from overtime pay.
Gyro is a Texas company, headquartered in Corpus Christi, which provides oilfield services. According to the complaint, the plaintiff worked as a wireline operator for Gyro from 2013 to 2019 in oil fields around the central United States. As a wireline operator, he was “responsible for inserting tools and cable down a well, typically in the fracturing process.”
The defendant allegedly “requires its wireline operators to work lengthy workweeks. Seven-day work weeks are common as are work weeks in excess of 80 hours.” Yet, the plaintiff argues that neither he nor other wireline operators were paid overtime. Instead, the complaint says, they were under-compensated with “a flat monthly salary plus a day rate for each day spent in the field.” Thus, the plaintiff claims, by “failing to pay (him) time-and-a-half for all hours worked in excess of forty per workweek,” Gyro has violated the FLSA.
In addition to an individual count seeking recovery of the plaintiff’s unpaid overtime compensation and liquidated damages, the complaint seeks certification of “a class of current and former wireline operators, and all employees in substantially similar positions, work worked at any time during the three-year period before the filing of this Complaint.” As to class size, the plaintiff contends that Gryo has “misclassified dozens of other wireline operators as exempt from overtime.” The suit also notes that the defendant “has been sued multiple times” for FLSA violations.
The plaintiff is represented by Sosa-Morris Neuman, PLLC.
