Cantu v. Mammoth Energy Servs.
Cantu v. Mammoth Energy Servs.
2023 WL 3681705 (W.D. Tex. 2023)
April 10, 2023
Chestney, Elizabeth S., United States Magistrate Judge
Summary
Plaintiffs are 145 former electrical utility restoration workers who allege they were not paid overtime compensation. The Court granted Plaintiffs' Expedited Motion to Compel Discovery and ordered the parties to file a joint motion for entry of a protective order to preserve the confidentiality of the arbitration award. The award may be filed under seal in any filings related to resolving the merits issue of collateral estoppel before the District Court.
Francisco CANTU, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
MAMMOTH ENERGY SERVICES, Higher Power Electrical, LLC, Defendants
v.
MAMMOTH ENERGY SERVICES, Higher Power Electrical, LLC, Defendants
SA-19-CV-00615-DAE
United States District Court, W.D. Texas, San Antonio Division
Signed April 10, 2023
Counsel
Andrew W. Dunlap, Richard M. Schreiber, Michael A. Josephson, Josephson Dunlap Law Firm, Houston, TX, Richard J. Burch, Houston, TX, David Isaac Moulton, Bruckner Burch PLLC, Houston, TX, for Plaintiffs Francisco Cantu, Norberto Elizondo, Joel Chavez, Billy Evans, Jr., Robby Alvear, Brantley Cm Brooks, Robert William Burns, David Glenn Cloud, Jacob A. Crowley, Wilburn Aaron Durrance, Tony Flores Fernandez, Lucas Victor Filippini, Brian Garon Jones, Scott Charles King, Robert A. Linares, Ezequiel Luna, Clint Nowlin, Joshua James Page, Clayton Myles Poole, Colton Wilson, Andres Arredondo, Rodolfo Ballesteros, Sr., Jamaal V. Bruce, Michael Delgreco, Dennis Louis Delk, Heckson Duran Hernandez, Michael Glenn Fair, Servando Hasty-Rojas, Chad Dwayne Hendley, Jesse Lee James, Yariel Mantilla, Elton Leo Musick, Derek Michael Pelotte, Amaniel Sanchez, Timothy Dale Gentry, Sammy D. Johnson, Lucio Allen Moreno, Oscar Lebron Nieves, Justin Lee Norman, Felipe Vasquez, Mario Alberto Barron, Travis Jerome Burton, Patrick H. Chappell, Lorlean C. Herrera, Patrick Dean Lynch, Rene Garcia Ortiz, Arthur Jay Ramirez, Barrett Andrew Ringstaff, Pedro L. Rios, Troy Richard Bendt, Derek Ryan Bishop, Tanner B. Holcomb, Aaron Lawrence Jones, Richard P. McGowan, Gregory Alan Miller, James T. Tanner, Hector Santos Velasquez, Carlos Benavides, Nestor S. Jaquez, Jr., Jose Luis Aguilar, Mark Benson, Israel Garza, Renato Barrera, Manuel Cordero, Troy L. Paulson, Kyle Kenneth Rumble, John Lloyd Blankenship, II, Reynol Garza, William Norman, Christopher Charles Scott, James Butler Ericson Call, III, Joshua Daniel Hendrickson, Brian Wayne Scott, Justin C. Washburn, Ramiro Garcia, Jeffrey W. Lehecka, Noe Albert Martinez, Felipe Padron, James Melvin Anderson, Carlos M. Castillo, Benny Cowan, Jacob Brian Harris, Armando Herrera, Jeffrey Lamar Norman, Alexei Setien, Jonathan Dale Stewart, Cavin Z. Sweat, Aldo Enrique Torres, Michael B. Hendrix, Juan J. Mata, Charles Braxton Wilson, Dakota Shey Bunch, Michael Anthony Brown, Bryan Capps, Jesse J. Dillion, Leron T. Parramore, Thomas John Ritz, Medardo Arellano Salas, John T. Hardin, Justin Thibodeaux, Daniel Mejia, James Hughes, Blake R. Fadness, Toby Smith, James McAlister, Kyle Garcia, Joseph Michael Alcorn, David Javier Ballesteros, Jeremy E. Bell, Kurtis James Benson, Danny Walter Boatright, Marty Z. Bonnell, Manford A. Bryant, Kevin W. Carroll, Shawn M. Davidson, Timothy R. Davis, Jeremy D. Dukes, Jeremy Dustin Farrar, Randy King, Joel Flores, Rodney L. Grizzard, Tyler James Halford, Edward Ibarra, William Edward Lohn, V, Richard R. Loveless, Ismael Mendez Benitez, Juan Andres Montelongo, Justin Hall Morris, Terrence Lavell Norman, Walker Shane Pace, Alan Pierson, Tyler Skipper, Justin Smith, Dillon W. Tharp, Darrell Ray Thomas, Jason Michael Tison, Lino L. Torres, Jesus Angel Villarreal, II, Cory Tanner White, Don Richard Wimberley, Jr., Daniel E. Wood, Rube Zamora.Andrew W. Dunlap, Richard M. Schreiber, Josephson Dunlap Law Firm, Houston, TX, Richard J. Burch, Houston, TX, David Isaac Moulton, Bruckner Burch PLLC, Houston, TX, for Plaintiff Jonathon David Ray Baker.
Alison P. Henderson, Kelly R. Ferrell, Laura Alaniz, M. Harris Stamey, William Robinson Stukenberg, Erin C. Villasenor, Jamie L. Houston, Eric Drennan Wade, Porter & Hedges, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Defendant Mammoth Energy Services.
Alison P. Henderson, Kelly R. Ferrell, Laura Alaniz, M. Harris Stamey, William Robinson Stukenberg, Erin C. Villasenor, Porter Hedges LLP, Houston, TX, for Defendant Higher Power Electrical, LLC.
Chestney, Elizabeth S., United States Magistrate Judge
ORDER
*1 Before the Court in the above-styled cause of action is Plaintiffs’ Expedited Motion to Compel Discovery [#140], which was referred to the undersigned for disposition on April 3, 2023. By their motion, Plaintiffs ask the Court to compel Defendants to produce a copy of the arbitration award entered in Basulto v. Mammoth Energy Services, Inc., Arbitration Nos. 21:A-001 to 21:B-043, an arbitration addressing the overtime claims of 29 arbitration claimants subject to the same pay plan at issue in this case. Plaintiffs argue that the award is relevant to the question of whether the arbitration award precludes Defendants from relitigating issues that it lost in the arbitration. The Court held a hearing on the motion on this day, at which counsel for all parties appeared via videoconference. After considering Plaintiff's motion, Defendants’ response in opposition [#145], the arguments of counsel at the hearing, the record, and governing law, the Court will grant the motion as set forth herein.
Plaintiffs in this case are 145 former electrical utility restoration workers (“storm workers”) employed by Defendants from 2017 to 2019 to restore electrical power in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. By this lawsuit, they seek overtime compensation they allege they are due under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants paid them a day rate, regardless of the number of hours worked and regardless of their classification as an employee or independent contractor, with no overtime compensation. (Compl. [#1], at ¶ 3.) Defendants maintain that Plaintiffs were paid an hourly rate plus overtime compensation, and, even if Plaintiffs were paid a day rate, they are exempt from overtime compensation under the “highly compensated employee” and other exemptions. (Answer [#12], at ¶ 98.) The District Court denied the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ FLSA claims on February 28, 2023, finding a genuine dispute of material fact remains as to whether Plaintiffs were paid a day or hourly rate; whether Defendants’ pay practice complied with the FLSA; and whether Defendants acted in good faith. (Order [#138].) This case is set for trial on May 15, 2023.
Plaintiffs recently became aware of the arbitration award in Basulto, when it was filed on the docket in Texas county court in Summers v. Mammoth, Case 2023-429-CCL2, on March 9, 2023. According to Plaintiffs’ motion, the Basulto award found Defendants’ pay plan to willfully violate the FLSA. Plaintiffs now wish to file a motion in this case with the District Court, arguing that Defendants are collaterally estopped from relitigating the issues decided in the Basulto arbitration, because that case involved storm workers performing the exact same utility restoration work after Hurricane Maria and the same employment and payroll policies. Plaintiffs ask the Court to compel the production of the award because it is relevant to the collateral estoppel argument they intend to make before the District Court and Defendants were obligated to supplement their discovery responses and produce the award but failed to do so.
*2 The record reflects that the parties reached an agreement earlier in this case that Defendants would supplement their discovery responses to Interrogatory 11 and Requests for Production 10 through 12 for the time period of ten years prior to the instant lawsuit to the present. These discovery requests pertain to the disposition of claims and lawsuits against Defendants that involve an allegation of the failure to pay proper wages and overtime compensation. The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that Defendants are required to supplement their responses with the Basulto arbitration award because it is relevant to the issue-preclusion arguments Plaintiffs wish to make before the District Court and falls within the time period agreed by the parties in resolving previous discovery disputes. The undersigned will therefore compel the production of the Basulto award pursuant to Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The undersigned emphasizes that nothing in this Order should be construed as addressing the merits of Plaintiffs’ collateral-estoppel argument. Defendants vigorously argue in their briefing on this discovery dispute that Plaintiffs’ collateral-estoppel argument fails for multiple reasons. Whether Plaintiffs can prevail on their collateral-estoppel argument is a merits issue to be decided by the District Court. What is clear, however, is the arbitration award itself is relevant to deciding the collateral-estoppel issue and should be before the District Court when it considers Plaintiffs’ motion.
Defendants expressed both in their written briefing and oral presentation on this discovery dispute that they have concerns regarding preserving the confidentiality of the arbitration award and that they are contractually bound to do so. There is no protective order in this case, but the Court will enter one. The parties should confer on a protective order and submit their proposed protective order to the Court. (Appendix H to the Court's Local Rules contains two options for the parties to consider.) Then, Defendants may designate the award as confidential under the protective order. Once designated confidential, the arbitration award may be filed under seal in any filings related to resolving the merits issue of collateral estoppel before the District Court.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Expedited Motion to Compel Discovery [#140] is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties FILE a joint motion for entry of a protective order within seven days.