On May 20, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Montana Billings Division against Exploration Drilling, Inc. (\u201cExploration Drilling\u201d). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all flowback operators and other similarly situated employees who work or have worked at Exploration Drilling nationwide.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit alleges that Exploration Drilling has failed to pay overtime to flowback operators. Flowback operators are paid a day rate, which is a pre-set amount of pay for each day of work. Day rate compensation violates the Fair Labor Standards Act (\u201cFLSA\u201d) if employees work in excess of forty hours per work week. Flowback operators often work in excess of forty hours a week, often as much as eighty-four hours per week, without being compensated for overtime hours in violation of employee rights under FLSA and the North Dakota Wage Laws. \u00a0This is important because an employer cannot take advantage of hard working employees who work more than forty hours in a work week by failing to compensate them with time and one half pay as required by the FLSA and the North Dakota Wage Laws.<\/p>\n
The oil and gas industry commonly violates employees\u2019 rights under FLSA regarding overtime pay. If you are a current or former employee of the oil and gas industry you may have an overtime claim against your employer.<\/p>\n
In addition, we are seeking to represent all flowback operators and other similarly situated employees who work or have worked in excess of 40 hours per work week at Exploration Drilling nationwide. Anyone who works or has worked at Exploration Drilling in the last three years should contact us to discuss your potential rights under the FLSA.<\/p>\n