Snively v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC
Snively v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC
Opinion of the Court
BEFORE THE COURT is Plaintiffs Jason Snively and Stephen Clark's, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Defendants' White Collar Exemption Affirmative Defenses. (Doc. 148). After due consideration, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs' Motion. Id.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Plaintiffs filed this case on August 26, 2015, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),
On May 1, 2018, the parties filed seven motions for summary judgment, a motion for decertification, and a motion to compel deposition testimony. (Docs. 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152). Subsequently, the parties filed a motion to strike evidence and two motions requesting the Court take judicial notice of certain evidence. (Docs. 165, 182, 185).
This order specifically addresses Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on Defendants' White Collar Exemption Affirmative Defenses. (Doc. 148). Plaintiffs contend there is no genuine issue of material fact on the administrative and highly-compensated employee (HCE) exemptions asserted by Defendants-collectively referred to as the "White-Collar Exemptions."
II. LEGAL STANDARD
A. Summary Judgment
Summary judgment is proper if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). A genuine issue of material fact exists "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. ,
The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett ,
B. Exemptions
The FLSA "requires an employer to pay overtime compensation to any employee working more than forty hours in a workweek." Olibas v. Barclay ,
Under the first exemption at issue, an employee is exempt from the FLSA if they are employed in a "bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity."
(1) Compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate of not less than $455 per week ... (2) Whose primary duty is the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer's customers; and (3) Whose primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance.
The second exemption at issue is the HCE exemption. "The Highly Compensated *915Employee Exemption applies to employees who have a 'total annual compensation of at least $100,000.00' (which must include at least $455.00 per week paid on a salary or fee basis) and who regularly and customarily perform at least one of the duties of an executive, administrative, or professional employee." Allen v. Coil Tubing Servs., L.L.C. ,
III. DISCUSSION
Plaintiffs move for summary judgment contending there is no genuine issue of material fact concerning Defendants' White-Collar Exemption defenses. (Doc. 148). Defendants only assert Plaintiffs are exempt under the administrative and HCE exemptions. (See Doc. 162 at 4-15). As a result, the Court must only address the administrative and HCE exemptions.
C. Administrative Exemption
Plaintiffs contend they are not exempt from the FLSA under the administrative exemption because their primary duty did not include the performance of office or non-manual work. (Doc. 148 at 16). The Regulations define "primary duty" as "the principal, main, major or most important duty that the employee performs."
The phrase 'directly related to the management or general business operations' refers to the type of work performed by the employee. To meet this requirement, an employee must perform work directly related to assisting with the running or servicing of the business, as distinguished, for example, from working on a manufacturing production line or selling a product in a retail or service establishment.
work in functional areas such as tax; finance; accounting; budgeting; auditing; insurance; quality control; purchasing; procurement; advertising; marketing; research; safety and health; personnel management; human resources; employee benefits; labor relations; public relations, government relations; computer network, internet and database administration; legal and regulatory compliance; and similar activities.
Plaintiffs cite deposition testimony and other evidence indicating that PCOs' primary duties included operating grease pumps to maintain specified pressures. (Doc. 148 at 2). PCOs maintained these pressures by adjusting nobs and using hand pumps.
• Job Preparation: PCOs prepare, repair, and load equipment at Nine's Shop depending on condition of equipment and tools.
• Travel to Well Site: Texas and New Mexico Well Sites from Midland location.
*916• Setting/Rigging Up Equipment at Jobsite
• Taking off Night Cap Before Wireline Run: Time PCOs spend in man lift wearing harness on top of the wellhead using tools, including hammers, to take nightcap off of the wellhead.
• Maintain Pressure During Wireline Run (Defendant claims this is PCOs Primary Duty): PCOs get info from wireline or company man regarding wellbore pressure; (2) use hand pumps and turn nobs to set grease pressure within 20% of wellbore pressure; and (3) Wireline, frac, flowback, and pump-down supervise this work by monitoring wellbore pressure during this time.
• Frack Operations: PCOs do not monitor pressure during this time; Another service company monitors pressure during fracking operations. PCOs perform maintenance on their equipment during this time period because "at that point in time frac has the well, and so our equipment is sitting to the side."
• Rigging Down Equipment
• Travel Back to the shop from Texas or New Mexico
(Doc. 173 at 3-4).
Defendants respond: "Plaintiffs' primary duty was managing Defendants' entire well site pressure control operation for Defendants' customers, which involved interacting with the customers and other service providers to complete the well in a safe and efficient manner." (Doc. 162 at 5). Defendants cite the testimony of Eddie Merryman-a corporate representative-who testified that the primary duty of PCOs was "to manage a well site pressure control operation and [pay] attention to detail as well as communicat[e] with the company man and wireline engineer on location." (Doc. 162 at 5). Bruce Morgan-another corporate representative-testified that the PCOs' main responsibility was "interacting with the customers and other service companies in completion of the oil and gas well in a safe and efficient manner."
At the summary judgment stage, the Court only determines whether a fact question exists and does not weigh the evidence. See Caboni ,
D. HCE Exemption
Plaintiffs next move for summary judgment on Defendants' HCE defense because *917Plaintiffs' primary duties did not include performing office or non-manual labor. (Doc. 148 at 20-21) (citing
Plaintiffs next contend Defendants cannot identify specific duties Plaintiffs allegedly performed which are executive, administrative, or professional. Again, Defendants provide evidence that creates a fact question on whether Plaintiffs' primary duty involved management and safety operations at Defendants' well sites-work directly related to "safety and health" and "personnel management." (Doc. 162 at 8-9, 10-12); see
IV. CONCLUSION
Due to the preceding discussion, the Court finds genuine issues of material fact on both of the challenged exemptions. Accordingly, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Defendants' White Collar Exemption Affirmative Defenses. (Doc. 148).
It is so ORDERED .
This definition appears in the 2004 regulations promulgated by the Department of Labor. There is some confusion as to whether the 2004 definition (Old Rule) or a rule promulgated in 2016 (New Rule) controls the current definition of "employee employed in a bona fide administrative capacity." See Nevada ,
Due to the current nationwide injunction halting the implementation of the New Rule, the Old Rule controls.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jason SNIVELY, Stephen Clark, and all others similarly situated v. PEAK PRESSURE CONTROL, LLC, and Nine Energy Services, LLC
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published