Gandy v. RWLS, LLC

308 F. Supp. 3d 1220
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedApril 23, 2018
DocketNo. 2:17–cv–00558 JCH–CG
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 308 F. Supp. 3d 1220 (Gandy v. RWLS, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gandy v. RWLS, LLC, 308 F. Supp. 3d 1220 (D.N.M. 2018).

Opinion

Judith C. Herrera, United States District Judge

On June 22, 2017, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Individual and Class Claims (ECF No. 12). The Court, having considered the motion, briefs, pleadings, and applicable law, concludes that the motion should be denied.

I. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

Plaintiff Rick Gandy worked for Defendants RWLS, LLC, and its president, Matthew Grey (collectively, "Defendants"), as an operator and rigger in New Mexico from approximately November 2014 to June 2015. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 4, ECF No. 1. RWLS, LLC, headquartered in Texas, is an oilfield service company that provides wireline and other oilfield services to customers.

*1222Id. ¶ 6. As a Field Employee, Plaintiff's primary job duties consisted of performing technical and manual labor to provide Defendants' products and services for customers at job sites. Id. ¶ 18. During his employment, Plaintiff reported to Defendants' Hobbs, New Mexico location. Id. ¶ 4.

According to the complaint, "Defendants regularly scheduled Plaintiff to work for a minimum of twelve (12) hours per day and a minimum of eighty-four (84) hours per week during his employment." Id. ¶ 24. "Despite Plaintiff routinely working over 80 hours per week, Defendants failed to pay him any overtime premium for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek during the time period Plaintiff received compensation on a salary or salary plus non-discretionary bonus basis." Id. ¶ 25. Defendants misclassified Plaintiff as exempt and paid him on a salary or salary-plus-bonus basis with no overtime pay for his many hours of overtime work. Id. ¶ 26.

Plaintiff brings his wage claim as a Rule 23 class action on behalf of the "NM Class Members," all of Defendants' Field Employees who received pay on a salary or salary plus non-discretionary bonus basis who worked in excess of 40 hours in at least one workweek in New Mexico over the past three years. Id. ¶ 5. According to the complaint, "Defendants regularly scheduled the Class Members to work for a minimum of twelve (12) hours per day and a minimum of eighty-four (84) hours per week." Id. ¶ 36. "Despite the NM Class Members routinely working over 40 hours per week, Defendants failed to pay the NM Class Members any overtime premium for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek during the time period the NM Class Members received compensation on a salary or salary-plus-bonus basis." Id. ¶ 37. Defendants misclassified the NM Class Members as exempt and paid them on a salary or salary-plus-bonus basis with no overtime pay for their many hours of overtime work. Id. ¶ 38.

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act ("NMMWA"), N.M. Stat. Ann. § 50-4-22(D), by misclassifying him and the other NM Class Members as exempt from overtime and by failing to pay him and other NM Class Members overtime compensation at a rate of time-and-one-half for all hours worked in excess of 40 in an individual workweek.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

On a motion to dismiss, the court assesses the legal sufficiency of the allegations contained within the four corners of the complaint. Archuleta v. Wagner , 523 F.3d 1278, 1281 (10th Cir. 2008). Rule 8 requires the complaint to contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). The court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts, viewing them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and allowing all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Archuleta , 523 F.3d at 1283. The court "should disregard all conclusory statements of law and consider whether the remaining specific factual allegations, if assumed to be true, plausibly suggest the defendant is liable." Kansas Penn Gaming, LLC v. Collins , 656 F.3d 1210, 1214 (10th Cir. 2011). The complaint "does not need detailed factual allegations," but "a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

III. ANALYSIS

Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and 12(f) on two grounds: (i) failure to plead sufficient facts to support a *1223reasonable inference that Plaintiff received less than the overtime pay due; and (ii) the case cannot proceed as a matter of law as a Rule 23 class action, but must be pursued as a collective action.

According to the NMMWA, an "employee shall not be required to work more than forty hours in any week of seven days, unless the employee is paid one and one-half times the employee's regular hourly rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of forty hours." N.M. Stat. Ann. § 50-4-22(D). The NMMWA "establishes a floor below which employers cannot pay employees wages and also requires the payment of time and a half for work in excess of a forty-hour workweek." Armijo v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , 2007-NMCA-120, ¶ 47, 142 N.M. 557, 168 P.3d 129 (quotations omitted). Any "one or more employees for and on behalf of the employee or employees and for other employees similarly situated" may bring a lawsuit for relief under the NMMWA. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 50-4-26(D).

A. Sufficiency of Allegations to Support Plaintiff's Cause of Action

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Bluebook (online)
308 F. Supp. 3d 1220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gandy-v-rwls-llc-nmd-2018.