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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to revisit the issue of federal overtime pay exemptions for salaried workers, leaving in place a Tenth Circuit ruling favoring oil and gas equipment service company Schlumberger Technology Corp. over oil rig worker Mark Wilson.

The high court's decision denies Wilson's petition to overturn the Tenth Circuit's ruling, which supported Schlumberger's argument that Wilson was paid on a salary basis and thus exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The justices did not provide an explanation for their decision.

Wilson, who worked as a measurement-while-drilling operator, contended in his January petition that Schlumberger's payment structure—comprising a guaranteed weekly salary supplemented by additional pay based on days worked—did not meet the criteria for overtime exemption. He argued that under Section 541.604(b) of the Code of Federal Regulations, an exempt employee's salary must maintain a "reasonable relationship" to their total earnings, a standard he claimed Schlumberger did not meet.

Wilson highlighted that his weekly salary accounted for only 28.5% of his total compensation, with the remaining 71.5% coming from variable daily pay. He argued that the Tenth Circuit's interpretation deprived workers like him of the overtime protections intended by the FLSA.

Schlumberger, however, countered that Wilson was indeed paid on a salary basis and that the additional compensation did not alter his exempt status. The company maintained that the bonuses fell under Section 541.604(a) of the regulations, which allows for additional compensation on any basis, rather than Section 541.604(b), which pertains to hourly, daily, or per-shift payments.

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case comes after a significant ruling in February 2023 in Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. et al. v. Michael J. Hewitt, where the justices held that high-earning professionals can only be exempt from overtime if paid on a salary basis. Wilson had cited this ruling in his petition, hoping it would influence the court's decision.

Wilson initially filed his proposed overtime class action in 2017. After the lower court denied class certification in 2018 and ruled in Wilson's favor in 2021 following a jury trial, Schlumberger appealed, leading to the Tenth Circuit's decision now left standing by the Supreme Court.

Wilson was represented by Richard J. Burch of Bruckner Burch PLLC and J. Derek Braziel of Braziel Law Offices PC. Schlumberger was represented by Robert P. Lombardi, Samuel Zurik III, and Kelly D. Reese of the Kullman Firm.