Bedrock PC 1099, LLC, which is an affiliate of Bedrock Petroleum Consultants, has been sued in federal court in Houston by a client represented by Borsellino, P.C. for alleged overtime violations. The plaintiff is a former worker who was classified as an independent contractor by Bedrock. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff worked as a “Consultant” for Bedrock’s client, EOG, from April of 2017 until August of 2017. The suit alleges that the worker interviewed and was hired through Bedrock, and he worked exclusively as a Consultant on EOG’s drilling rigs. The lawsuit further alleges that while employed by Bedrock, the plaintiff was misclassified as an independent contractor, despite the fact that he worked full time for Bedrock, and virtually every aspect of his job was controlled by Bedrock. Bedrock misclassified the worker as an independent contractor to avoid paying employment taxes, benefits and overtime. During his time with Bedrock, the worker typically worked between 12-20 hours per day, and sometimes worked as many as 35 days straight. The plaintiff received a day rate regardless of the number of hours he worked in a given day or week, and never received overtime pay. According to the suit, there are a large number of workers that have been hired through Bedrock (and are paid through Bedrock) but are working strictly at EOG facilities in New Mexico, all of whom are classified as independent contractors and all of whom are paid a day rate and/or straight time and denied overtime pay.
The lawsuit was filed as a collective action, which the plaintiff proposes to consist of all oilfield workers hired through Bedrock and working at EOG facilities in New Mexico during the past 3 years who were classified as independent contractors and paid a day-rate and/or straight time with no overtime. As with any collective action, in order to participate in the lawsuit, the claimant must affirmatively opt-in to the suit by signing a consent form that can be obtained by the plaintiff’s counsel, Josh Borsellino.
Oilfield workers are often wrongfully denied overtime pay. Specifically, workers in the oil and gas sector are often misclassified as independent contractors and paid “straight time,” a salary or a day rate and wrongfully refused overtime pay. If you or a friend or family member have not been paid overtime by a consulting company, an oilfield service company, oil and gas producer, or pipeline inspection company, consult an experienced overtime attorney to learn your legal rights.