From JDSupra, Richard Reibstein discusses a recent suit by a mudlogger against a geologic services company alleging misclassficiation. Richard writes:
Geologic Services Company Sued for IC Misclassification by Well-Site “Mudlogger.” A geologic services company has been sued in a Colorado federal court by a plaintiff geologist, who performed mudlogging services, alleging that the company violated the overtime compensation provisions of the FLSA due to its alleged misclassification of the plaintiff and other similarly situated geologists as ICs and not employees. The company provides a wide array of oil and gas wellsite analytics including mudlogging, wellsite geology, mass spectrometry, geosteering, and advanced lab-based services. According to the collective action complaint, the company allegedly paid the workers a single day rate for all hours worked in a day (without any overtime premium compensation for hours over 40 in a workweek), even though the workers were typically scheduled for at least 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, often for several weeks without time off. The plaintiff alleged that the company exercised control over all aspects of geologists’ work and set their hours, rate of pay, and locations of the work. He also claims that the company provided all of the tools, machines and supplies needed for the work. It is anticipated that the company will file a motion to compel arbitration if its IC agreement with the mudloggers includes an arbitration clause with a class and collective action waiver. Clark v. Epoch Geoservices LLC, No. 1:26-cv-03372 (D. Colo. July 24, 2026).
