Take a look at oil well and pipeline inspector John Williams' time cards and pay stubs and two things quickly become apparent: 1) Williams keeps an exhausting work schedule, often working as much as 160 hour in a single pay period and 2) His employer, Moody International Americas Inc., rarely pays him any overtime compensation. Last week, Williams and two former co-workers filed a federal class-action lawsuit charging that Moody International required them to work more than 40 hours per pay period but failed to pay them overtime as mandated by federal law.

Dallas attorney Charles W. "Trey" Branham III of the Law Offices of  Charles W. Branham, III, L.P. filed the Fair Labor Standards Act class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Lufkin on behalf of Williams and former co-workers Herbert "Jay" Fontenot and Tye Adair. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that employers pay overtime to non-exempt hourly employees who work more than 40 hours per pay period at a rate equal to one-and-a-half times their regular straight-time pay rate. Mr. Fontenot and Mr. Adair worked as inspectors and technicians for the company, and have asserted similar claims. Moody International is a subsidiary of UK-based Moody International Limited, which provides services to companies in oil and gas, power, mining and other industries.

"I'm concerned that what happened to John and the others in this case happened to other Moody International employees as well," Mr. Branham says. "With thousands of technical workers in the U.S., it could be that these three are just the tip of the iceberg."

Mr. Branham says Moody International's own employee handbook may become a key piece of evidence, including statements about the payment of overtime that may run counter to federal law. More information is available at http://www.branhamlegal.com.