Industries I've Represented Workers In

For the past 15 years, my practice has been confined exclusively to wage and hour cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act and parallel state laws. In that time, I've represented workers across a range of industries. Some industries more than others, because certain industries produce the same pay violations again and again.

Most of the cases I resolve include confidentiality clauses that prevent me from describing the specific outcome, the employer, or the case details publicly. This page is the alternative. It's an industry-level overview of where I've worked and the kinds of violations I've seen, so a worker visiting this site can get a sense of whether their situation is the kind of case I take. For the public-record cases I'm able to discuss openly, see Case Results.

What kinds of healthcare worker overtime cases have I represented?

Healthcare is one of the most common industries in my caseload. I've represented home health aides, certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, group home and residential facility workers, day program staff, and personal care attendants. The violations repeat across employers: travel time between patient homes treated as unpaid, automatic meal-period deductions for breaks workers never actually took, 1099 classifications imposed on workers who have no control over their schedule or how they do the job, and the misconception that small residential care facilities are exempt from overtime (they are not, in most situations).

The economic-reality test is what controls whether a home care worker is an employee or a contractor under federal law, not what the paperwork says. In most of the healthcare cases I see, the worker is plainly an employee under that test and is owed overtime for travel and bedside hours alike.

How do overtime violations show up in oil and gas?

Oilfield workers are one of the highest-volume groups in my practice. I've represented roughnecks, derrickmen, floor hands, roustabouts, equipment operators, well-service and wireline technicians, tool pushers, drilling-fluid specialists, and pump operators. The two violation patterns I see most often are day-rate pay structures that ignore overtime entirely and 1099 misclassification for workers who use company-supplied equipment, follow company-set procedures, and report to company supervisors.

The Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Helix Energy Solutions Group v. Hewitt confirmed that paying a worker by the day, even at a high daily rate, does not satisfy the salary-basis test for the white-collar exemption. That decision changed how oil and gas employers should be paying field workers, but plenty of them still haven't changed how they pay them.

What does misclassification look like for safety managers and other construction roles?

I've represented safety managers, superintendents, foremen, and other field-level construction workers paid as 1099 contractors or as straight-time hourly workers with no overtime premium. The construction industry runs heavy on the "independent contractor" label, and the label rarely matches what the worker actually does day-to-day. If the company controls the schedule, the equipment, the worksite assignments, and the methods, the worker is almost always an employee, regardless of the tax form at the end of the year.

I also see straight-time-only pay structures in this industry, where workers are paid the same hourly rate for every hour worked instead of time and a half over 40. That's a straightforward overtime violation in most situations.

What kinds of independent contractor misclassification cases do I take?

Beyond the industry-specific patterns above, I take 1099 misclassification cases across a number of industries: drivers, dispatchers, logistics personnel, salaried professionals working in roles that don't meet any white-collar exemption, remediation and restoration workers, and any worker labeled an "independent contractor" whose day-to-day reality looks like employment under the economic-reality test.

The legal test is the same regardless of the industry: does the worker control the work, or does the employer? Six factors apply. In most of the cases I see, the employer controls everything (schedule, equipment, methods, customer relationships, pay structure) and the contractor label is a misclassification.

What about commission-based workers?

I've represented sales representatives, account managers, and other commission-paid workers in cases involving unpaid overtime, unpaid commissions earned but never paid, and miscalculated regular rates. Commission-only pay structures can be legal in narrow circumstances under the Section 7(i) exemption for retail and service establishments, but most employers paying commissions do not actually qualify for that exemption. The result is unpaid overtime that can add up quickly across a year or two.

How do tip-credit and food-service overtime cases work?

I've represented tipped workers (servers, bartenders, food-service staff) in cases involving improper tip-credit applications, tip pools that included workers who shouldn't have been in them, and untipped side work that pushed hourly pay below minimum wage. The tip credit is one of the most heavily litigated areas of wage and hour law, and small mistakes in how an employer applies it create real damages over time.

What about retail workers and off-the-clock time?

Retail and service-industry workers come to me with off-the-clock claims. Pre-shift setup, post-shift closing, mandatory training, unpaid security checks, and time spent on required paperwork or transitions between locations. Any of that work, if it's required by the employer, is compensable under federal law.

What about truck drivers?

I've represented truck drivers in cases involving misclassification as 1099 contractors, unpaid detention time, unpaid pre-trip and post-trip work, and improper application of the Motor Carrier Act exemption. The Motor Carrier exemption is narrower than employers often claim. Drivers of vehicles under 10,001 pounds, drivers crossing into intrastate-only routes, and drivers whose work doesn't involve interstate transportation of property are often outside the exemption and owed overtime.

What about whistleblower and retaliation cases?

The federal overtime law includes anti-retaliation protections for workers who complain about pay violations, whether the complaint is made internally to the employer or externally to the Department of Labor. I've represented workers fired, demoted, or otherwise penalized for raising overtime or minimum-wage issues with their employers. These claims can be brought alongside the underlying wage claim or, in some situations, as standalone claims.

Don't see your industry here?

The list above reflects the industries I see most often, but the federal overtime law applies to nearly every private-sector workplace in the country. I take wage and hour cases from workers in many other industries, including manufacturing, hospitality, staffing, education support roles, government contractors, and others. If you're not sure whether your situation is the kind of case I handle, reach out and we can talk about your specific facts.

Contact Me

If you've been misclassified as a contractor, paid a day rate or salary that didn't include overtime, had time deducted from your pay that you actually worked, or otherwise weren't paid what you're owed under federal law, call me. I'll walk through how you were paid, what your hours looked like, and whether you have a case.

Call me at (512) 799-2048.