HOUSTON – A welder formerly employed by an oil and gas company alleges that he is owed unpaid overtime wages.
Agapito Sarabia filed a complaint on July 7 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas against Spitzer Industries Inc. alleging that the steel fabricating company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that between January 2014 and July 2016, he regularly worked in excess of 40 hours each week for defendant without overtime compensation. The plaintiff holds Spitzer Industries Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly improperly classified him as an independent contractor and paid him a straight hourly rate with no overtime compensation.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks an order certifying this case as a collective action, award for unpaid back wages, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and pre- and post-judgment interest and such other necessary and appropriate relief. He is represented by Michael A. Josephson, Andrew W. Dunlap, Lindsay R. Itkin and Jessica M. Bresler of Josephson Dunlap Law Firm in Houston and Richard J. (Rex) Burch of Bruckner Burch PLLC in Houston.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas case number 4:17-cv-02092