19. Plaintiff worked for Defendant as a tool pusher from approximately March of 2014 to April of 2016.  20. As a tool pusher, Plaintiff’s primary duty involved manual labor at oil well sites. He performed physical labor tasks at the well sites and worked outdoors, exposed to the elements. He also acted as a liaison between companies providing services at the well sites and the owner of the well site.  21. Plaintiff is one of hundreds of tool pushers employed by Defendant in the last three years.  22. Defendant violated the FLSA by misclassifying its tool pusher workforce as independent contractors and paying them only a day rate without overtime.  23. That is, Defendant made the company wide decision to classify all of its tool pushers as independent contractors.  24. Defendant’s tool pushers typically work a 12 hour shift at well sites. They also commonly work at well sites for several weeks at a time.  25. For compensation, Defendant pays its tool pushers a day rate for each day spent working.  26. Defendant paid Plaintiff a day rate.  27. Defendant paid the Class Members a day rate.  28. Defendant classified Plaintiff as an independent contractor.  29. Defendant classified the Class Members as independent contractors.  31. Defendant hired/fired, issued pay, supervised, directed, disciplined, scheduled and performed all other duties generally associated with that of an employer with regard to Plaintiff and the Class Members.  32. Defendant set the schedule to be worked by Plaintiff and the Class Members and controlled their work including their work locations, the hours worked, and safety on the job site.  33. Defendant tracked the days worked by Plaintiff and Class Members just as is common for typical employer-employee relationships.  35. Furthermore, the degree of investment Plaintiff and Class Members made to perform their work was minimal. Plaintiff and the Class Members were not required to supply tools of any kind. On the other hand, Defendant assumed all the costs typically associated with running a business and owned all tools and equipment Plaintiff and the Class Members were assigned.  36. A substantial portion of Defendant’s annual revenue is derived from the work performed by Plaintiff and Class Members.  37. Despite these facts, Defendant improperly classified Plaintiff and Class the Members as independent contractors and not employees.  39. However, at all times Plaintiff and the Class Members were economically dependent on Defendant and were not in business for themselves. They were employees under the FLSA, not independent contractors and they should have been paid overtime.  40. No exemption under the FLSA shelters Defendant from paying the Plaintiff and Class Members overtime.  41. Defendant knew, or showed reckless disregard for whether Plaintiff and the Class Members were entitled to overtime pay under the law. In fact, Defendant knew the requirement to pay overtime to Plaintiff and Class Members but intentionally chose not to do so. 42. Plaintiff brings this suit as an FLSA collective action pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) on behalf of all current and former tool pushers classified as independent contractors who performed work for Defendant for at least one week during the three-year period before the filing of this Complaint up to the date the Court authorizes notice.  43. Plaintiff has first-hand personal knowledge, through his personal work experience and communications with other workers of the Defendant, that a class of similarly- situated employees exists who have been denied the FLSA’s overtime premium by being subjected to the same illegal pay practices described above.  44. Defendant uses the same compensation structure regardless of the location of employment of a particular Class Member.  46. All tool pushers perform the same essential job functions regardless of branch location.  47. Defendant has a common job description that applies to all tool pushers.  48. As such, Class Members are similar to Plaintiff in terms of relevant job duties, pay structure, misclassification, and the denial of overtime pay.  49. The names and address of the Class Members of the collective action are available from Defendant’s records. The Class Members should be allowed to receive notice via First Class Mail, email and via a website with basic information about the lawsuit or by use of techniques and a form of notice similar to those customarily used in representative actions.  50. Although the exact amount of damages may vary among individual Class Members, the damages for each individual can be easily calculated.  51. The Class may be properly defined as follows: All current and former tool pushers classified as independent contractors who performed work for Defendant for at least one week during the three-year period before the filing of this Complaint up to the date the Court authorizes notice. 52. Plaintiff incorporates the preceding paragraphs by reference.  54. Defendant violated the FLSA by failing to pay Plaintiff and the Class Members overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek because it misclassified those workers as independent contractors.  55. Defendant cannot satisfy its burden to show that any exemption applies. Tool pushers were not paid on a salary or fee basis and did not perform the type of work to satisfy the duties tests for any of the white collar exemption.  56. Defendant has, therefore, violated and continues to violate the FLSA by not paying Plaintiff and the Class Members consistent with the FLSA for their overtime hours.  57. Defendant’s failure to pay overtime in accordance with the FLSA was willful and not based on a good faith belief that its conduct did not violate the FLSA.  58. As such, the foregoing conduct, as alleged, constitutes a willful violation within the meaning of the FLSA. 29 U.S.C. § 255(a).  59. Plaintiff will seek to certify this class as a collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). DAMAGES SOUGHT PURSUANT TO 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)  60. Plaintiff and Class Members are entitled to recover their unpaid overtime compensation for all time worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a single week.  61. Plaintiff and Class Members are entitled to recover an equal amount of their unpaid overtime premiums as liquidated damages.  Violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act Failure to Pay Overtime (Collective Action) 