ExxonMobil Secures SCOTUS Victory in Wage & Hour Suit

Represented ExxonMobil Corporation in a class action lawsuit alleging that employees on their three offshore platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara were covered by state wage and hour laws in addition to applicable federal laws (e.g., the Fair Labor Standards Act). The employees work 14 days on and then 14 days off, working 12 hour shifts while on the platforms.  California meal, overtime and other state-specific requirements posed a potential liability of over $40 million. Along with ExxonMobil, a number of other energy companies with employees working on offshore platforms off the California coast were subject to the same class action lawsuit. The Ninth Circuit ruled against the companies. Exxon Mobil and three other companies joined together to petition for review by the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS).  

The case was accepted, and resulted in a 9-0 victory for ExxonMobil and the other oil companies. The decision revolved around complex questions of statutory interpretation and federal preemption, with the Court holding that under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the plaintiffs’ claims were preempted by federal law such that only federal wage and hour laws applied to workers on offshore oil platforms affixed to the Outer Continental Shelf (Newton v. Parker Drilling Company).