Proft v. Wilson Systems, Inc.

217 F. Supp. 3d 946, 2016 WL 6806437, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162997
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedNovember 16, 2016
DocketNo. MO:16-CV-00308-RAJ
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 217 F. Supp. 3d 946 (Proft v. Wilson Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Proft v. Wilson Systems, Inc., 217 F. Supp. 3d 946, 2016 WL 6806437, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162997 (W.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

Robert A. Junell, Senior United States District Judge

BEFORE THE COURT is Defendant Wilson System, Inc.’s (“Defendant”) Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike Plaintiffs Ronald Profit and Jason Profit’s (“Plaintiffs”) Original Complaint. (Doc. 9). Plaintiffs bring this wage action against Defendant based on their allegation that Defendant misclassified Plaintiffs as independent contractors and denied them overtime pay for all hours worked over forty in a workweek in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. (Doc. 1). After due consideration, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike shall be DENIED. (Doc. 9).

I. Background

Plaintiffs filed their Original Collective Action Complaint against Defendant on August 19, 2016, alleging that Defendant required Plaintiffs “to work more than forty (40) hours in a workweek as well attendants.” (Doc. 1 at 1). According to the Complaint, “Plaintiffs were hourly paid employees whose primary duty was to perform manual labor at well sites.” (Id.). However, Defendant allegedly failed to pay Plaintiffs “overtime pay for all hours worked over forty in a workweek.” (Id.). On September 19, 2016, Defendant filed its Answer and Motion to Dismiss. (Docs. 7, 9). On September 30, 2016, Plaintiffs filed their Response in Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. 12). Defendant has not filed a timely Reply. Accordingly, this matter is now ripe for disposition.

II. Legal Standard

When a district court reviews a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), it must construe the complaint in favor of the plaintiff and take all well-pleaded facts as true. Randall D. Wolcott, MD, PA v. Sebelius, 635 F.3d 757, 763 (5th Cir. 2011). The plaintiffs legal conclusions are not entitled to the same assumption. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (“The tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.”). “While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations ... a plaintiffs obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do[.]” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

“Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. Dismissal is appropriate when the plaintiff fails to allege “enough facts to state a claim that is plausible on its face.” Id. Montoya v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., Inc., 614 F.3d 145, 148 (5th Cir. 2010). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements do not suffice” un[949]*949der Rule 12(b). Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. The plaintiff must plead specific facts, not merely conclusory allegations, to avoid dismissal. Collins v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, 224 F.3d 496, 498 (5th Cir. 2000).

III. Discussion

Plaintiffs are well site attendants formerly employed by Defendant. (Doc. 1 at 1). Defendant is in the business of managing salt water disposal wells and operates a series of disposal wells across West Texas. (Id. at 3). As well site attendants, Plaintiffs work at Defendant’s disposal wells pumping waste water down the wells. (Id. at 4). Defendant allegedly classified Plaintiffs and other similarly situated well site attendants as independent contractors and paid them an hourly rate without overtime. (Id. at 1, 3).

Defendant moves the Court to strike Plaintiffs’ FLSA collective action allegations “on the grounds that the Complaint fails to present allegations with some factual support in the form of affidavits, declarations or other documentation to support the conclusory allegations that Plaintiffs have other ‘hourly-paid workers’ similarly situated to Plaintiffs.” (Doc. 9 at 1). In addition, Defendant argues that Plaintiffs have not supplied documentation to support their claim that Defendant has a policy of failing to pay nonexempt employees overtime in violation of the FLSA. (Id. at 1-2). However, Defendant fails to support its two-page Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike with any legal authorities. After due consideration, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike shall be DENIED.

To state a prima facie claim for relief pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1), a plaintiff must state that he or she was or is (1) employed by the defendant; (2) engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or was employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce; (3) worked a workweek in excess of forty hours; and (4) received compensation less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he or she is employed. 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). An employee may bring an action for violating the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the FLSA either individually or as a collective action on behalf of himself and “other employees similarly situated.” 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).

A. Employment Relationship

As to the first element, Plaintiffs allege that Defendant employed Plaintiffs under the economic realities of the relationship. See Gray v. Powers, 673 F.3d 352, 354 (5th Cir. 2012) (“The Fifth Circuit uses the ‘economic reality' test to evaluate whether there is an employer/employee relationship.”). A court considers “whether the putative employer: (1) possessed the power to hire and fire the employees, (2) supervised and controlled employee work schedules or conditions of employment, (3) determined the rate and method of payment, and (4) maintained employment records.” Williams v. Henagan, 595 F.3d 610, 620 (5th Cir. 2010). The intent of the worker and the employer, and the label they use to describe their working relationship, does not control whether the worker is an employee. See Watson v. Graves, 909 F.2d 1549, 1554 (5th Cir. 1990) (“We must... look to the substantive realities of the relationship, not to mere forms or labels ascribed to the laborer by those who would avoid coverage.”).

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Bluebook (online)
217 F. Supp. 3d 946, 2016 WL 6806437, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162997, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/proft-v-wilson-systems-inc-txwd-2016.