Kubala, Jr. v. Setpoint Integrated Solutions, Inc.

2:25-cv-00108TxsdApr 29, 2026

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION
TED KUBALA, JR.,
Plaintiff,
VS.
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§
§
§
§
§
§
§
§
§
CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:25-CV-00108
SETPOINT INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS,
INC.,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND RECOMMENDATION
ON “PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR CONDITIONAL CERTIFCATION
AND COURT APPROVED NOTICE IN THIS FLSA ACTION”
This is an action concerning overtime wages brought under the Fair Labor Standards
Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. The Court ordered, and the parties have completed,
limited discovery on the issue of whether the Court should approve notice to similarly
situated employees. (D.E. 15; D.E. 19; D.E. 20; and D.E. 21). Pending is Plaintiff Ted
Kubala, Jr.’s Motion for Conditional Certification Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) and
Issuance of Court-Authorized Notice. (D.E. 22). The Motion has been referred to the
undersigned Magistrate Judge. Defendant Setpoint Integrated Solutions, Inc. (“Setpoint”)
has filed a Memorandum in Opposition. (D.E. 23). The parties have been permitted to file
additional briefs which include a reply, sur-reply, and a rejoinder. (D.E. 27, D.E. 35, D.E.
37). Additionally, counsel for the parties appeared in person and presented oral arguments
on April 22, 2026. As set forth in more detail below, having considered the parties’
United States District Court
Southern District of Texas
ENTERED
April 30, 2026
Nathan Ochsner, Clerk
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briefing, exhibits, arguments, and the relevant law, the undersigned finds that the Motion
should be GRANTED in part. (D.E. 22).
I. BACKGROUND
The FLSA requires employers to provide overtime compensation for its nonexempt
employees “for a workweek longer than forty hours.” 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). For non-
exempt employees, the FLSA requires overtime to be calculated at one and a half times the
regular rate. This case is about whether Setpoint properly calculated Kubala’s overtime
wages. The instant motion concerns whether there are Setpoint employees who are
“similarly situated” to Kubala who should be provided notice of this litigation and advised
of their rights to join in this lawsuit.
Kubala is a former employee of Setpoint. Setpoint is a Delaware Corporation with
its principal place of business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Setpoint provides repair and
other services for refineries, chemical plants, power plants, and other industrial businesses,
primarily in Texas and Louisiana but also in other states. Between approximately August
2024 and April 2025, Kubala worked as a pressure relief valve technician I, primarily in
Setpoint’s Corpus Christi “shop” located in Corpus Christi, Texas. Kubala’s assigned tasks
included working on and repairing industrial valves. A large portion of his tasks involved
work coming from the local Valero petroleum refineries. Plaintiff received an hourly wage,
but he also received shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses. Generally, a shift
differential is an increase in the hourly rate for less desirable or more demanding shifts,
such as the night shift or working out of the shop in the field. Setpoint’s employment
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documents more thoroughly define these terms. (D.E. 22-8). Kubala also received certain
non-discretionary bonuses. How the non-discretionary bonuses were calculated is not
important to the case at this stage, but they generally involved safety, productivity, and
efficiency. (D.E. 22-5). For purposes of the decision regarding whether employees are
similarly situated and whether the court should order notice to employees of a putative
FLSA collective, Setpoint agrees the relevant bonuses were in fact non-discretionary.
Kubala alleges Setpoint’s method of calculating overtime wages resulted in the
underpayment of his overtime wages for some of his workweeks. The required overtime
rate for non-exempt employees is one and a half times the regular hourly rate. Therefore,
a higher hourly base rate results in a higher overtime rate. With some exceptions, not
applicable here, the FLSA requires that when determining the hourly base rate, increases
for shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses must be included.1
In the present Motion, Kubala asks the Court to define a group of similarly situated
Setpoint employees and to provide notice to these employees of the action and to allow this
case to proceed as a collective action. Specifically, Kubala seeks the issuance of Court-
authorized notice to potential collective members to inform them of this action and of their
rights. Specifically, Kubala seeks notice to the following Setpoint employees:
All hourly Setpoint employees who were paid a shift differential and/or
non-discretionary additional compensation and/or non-discretionary
129 U.S.C. § 207(e). See also Plaintiff’s Ex. 3 & 4. U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #56C:
Bonuses under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)(D.E. 22-3); and U.S. Office of Personnel
Management fact sheet regarding night shift differentials (explaining how the U.S. federal
government applies the FLSA to shift differentials for its own employees)(D.E. 22-4).
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bonuses during the last three years through final resolution of this
Action (the “Hourly Employees”).
Setpoint agrees that it does not include the shift differentials or non-discretionary
bonuses when calculating the base rate. However, Setpoint explains this methodology does
not run afoul of the FLSA because employers are entitled to offsets for certain premium
rates paid for hours worked on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Setpoint pays time and
a half for work on Saturdays and double time for work on Sundays and holidays. The
FLSA provides for an offset of the overtime due to an employee for the extra premium pay
paid to that employee for the applicable work week. 29 U.S.C. § 207(h)(2). For example,
if an employee is owed $100.00 in overtime compensation for a work week but received
$100.00 in premium pay for that week because he worked on Sunday, the employee is not
owed any additional compensation for overtime. However, if the employee is owed
$100.00 in overtime compensation for a workweek, but received $60.00 in premium pay,
the employee is due an additional $40.00 for overtime wages. Setpoint argues this method
of calculating overtime compensation is proper and it is entitled to offsets for voluntary
premium compensation. Setpoint further argues that determining whether an FLSA
violation occurred requires a separate, individualized determination of each pay week of
each employee and that the hours and shifts employees work varies greatly depending on
a variety of factors.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
The FLSA permits one or more employees to bring an action for overtime
compensation on “behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated.”
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29 U.S.C. § 216(b). The FLSA authorizes court approved notice to similarly situated
employees. Similarly situated employees must opt in to be part of the action. Sandoz v.
Cingular Wireless LLC, 553 F.3d 913, 915 (5th Cir. 2008) (citing 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)).
Much of the litigation in these cases involves which employees are similarly situated and
how does the trial court define those employees.
The undersigned has previously presided over several FLSA actions and motions
for notice or conditional certification, as the term was used at that time. However, most of
those cases were resolved prior to Swales v. KLLM Transport Servs., 985 F.3d 430, 441
(5th Cir. 2021). Prior to Swales, this Court, like most Courts in the Southern District of
Texas, applied the two-step Lusardi approach. Lusardi v. Xerox, Corp., 118 F.R.D. 351
(D.N.J. 1987). Step one was often called the notification stage or “conditional certification”
stage and applied a very lenient standard. Step two involved a determination as to whether
the opt-in plaintiffs were similarly situated and whether the case may proceed to trial as a
collective. Swales at 436-37.
In pre-Swales cases applying the Lusardi approach, the undersigned does not recall
ever having denied an FLSA plaintiff’s motion for court ordered notice. There were a
number of instances where the undersigned ordered notice to “similarly situated”
employees who, as it turned out, were not in fact all that similarly situated. The
undersigned’s practice of not more scrupulously or narrowly tailoring the scope of the
employees eligible to participate in the action resulted in overly broad “classes” of
plaintiffs. These broadly defined classes resulted in “differently situated” plaintiffs opting
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in to the action. By the decertification stage, so many differently situated employees had
opted-in that cases became difficult to manage and decertify in an efficient manner.
Broadly defining similarly situated employees resulted in difficulties and problems for
pretrial case management, conducting discovery, decertification, trying the cases
collectively, and determining damages. Additionally, leniently granting motions for
conditional certification with broad groups of employees significantly increased the costs
of litigation at the very beginning of the case.
In Swales, the Fifth Circuit rejected the two-step Lusardi approach and noted several
times that the FLSA statute says nothing about “conditional certification.” The Fifth Circuit
directed the district courts to consider early in the case whether merits questions can be
answered collectively. Now, district courts should more carefully consider whether
similarly situated employees exist before ordering notice. The district courts are directed
to consider merits issues at the beginning of the case, before ordering notice, rather than
ordering notice and later trying to clean up the case. Swales, 985 F.3d at 441. Before
deciding whether to order notice, the Court should order preliminary discovery necessary
to make a swift decision on whether there are similarly situated employees. Id. The Fifth
Circuit acknowledged the Lusardi factors may be useful in determining whether employees
are situated. The factors are: (1) the disparate factual and employment settings of the
individual plaintiffs; (2) the various defenses available to the defendant which appear to be
individual to each plaintiff; and (3) fairness and procedural considerations. Id. at 437.
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Plaintiff bears the burden of making a preliminary factual showing that a similarly
situated group of potential plaintiffs exists. Swales at 443. In determining whether a group
is similarly situated, courts are to consider “whether merits questions can be answered
collectively.” Loy v. Rehab Synergies, L.L.C., 71 F.4th 329, 336 (5th Cir. 2023) (quoting
Swales at 442). “If answering the merits questions ‘requires a highly individualized inquiry
into each potential opt-in's circumstances,’ then the employees are likely not similarly
situated.” Id. (quoting Swales, 985 F.3d at 442). The district court has broad, litigation-
management discretion when determining whether plaintiffs and potential opt-in plaintiffs
are similarly situated. Id. at 443. A district court may modify the proposed class definition
if it is overly broad. See Baldridge v. SBC Commc’ns, Inc., 404 F.3d 930, 931–32 (5th Cir.
2005) (recognizing a court’s power to “limit the scope” of a proposed FLSA action).
In deciding whether similarly situated employees exist, a court may (1) conclude
that the plaintiffs’ and opt-ins are too diverse a group to support a collective action; (2)
decide the court needs further discovery to make a determination; or (3) find only certain
subcategories of employees should receive notice. Cortez v. Casa do Brasil, LLC, 646 F.
Supp. 3d 847, 852–54 (S.D. Tex. 2022) (citing Eltayeb v. Deli Mgmt., Inc., No. 4:20-CV-
00385, 2021 WL 5907781, at *2 (E.D. Tex. Dec. 14, 2021)) (internal quotations omitted).
III. ANALYSIS
The undersigned first addresses whether there are disparate factual and employment
settings. The Court should “assesses the opt-in plaintiffs’ job duties, geographic location,
supervision, and salary to determine if the potential opt-ins are similarly situated.” Snively
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v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC, 314 F. Supp. 3d 734, 739 (W.D. Tex. 2018). The parties’
briefing, arguments, and evidence demonstrated to the Court that the determination of
whether Mr. Kubala was properly compensated for overtime for any particular workweek
requires an individualized examination of a number of factors. These factors include the
number of hours worked in that week, the amount of straight time pay, the amount of
compensation for differentials, the amount paid for non-discretionary bonuses, the amount
paid for premium pay (weekends and holidays), the amount of overtime due under the
FLSA, the amount Kubala was actually paid, and then determining whether the amount
Kubala received for premium pay is sufficient to offset or cover the amount of overtime
due.
Defendant’s briefing includes such analysis for one of Kubala’s workweeks. (D.E.
23, pp. 7-9). For that workweek, Defendant maintains the evidence shows Kubala was
properly compensated and received $98.17 more than the FLSA required. Plaintiff did a
similar analysis; however, Plaintiff’s analysis includes each of Kubala’s work weeks from
Augst 2023 through April 27, 2025. Plaintiff offered a color copy of his Exhibit 1 at the
hearing on conditional certification which is attached to this M&R.2 The last column
represents the Plaintiff’s calculations as to whether Kubala was underpaid for overtime for
a particular week. The numbers preceded with a “-” sign represent the dollar amount
Kubala was underpaid for that week for overtime, according to Plaintiff. Out of the 89
2A black and white copy of Plaintiff’s exhibit 1 is located on the Court’s electronic docket. (D.E.
39, pp. 2-4).
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weeks represented in the table, Kubala was reportedly underpaid a total of $266.45 for
overtime wages for the entire time he worked for Setpoint. Of those 89 weeks, Kubala was
reportedly underpaid overtime for 25 weeks, with the smallest weekly underpayment being
$.44 and the largest underpayment being $38.90. The table reflects that Mr. Kubala
received overtime compensation in accordance with the FLSA for 64 of the 84 weeks of
his employment. If Kubala was in fact underpaid by Defendant as represented in the
Plaintiff’s exhibit, the methodology is not so inherently flawed to warrant notice to a broad
group of Defendant’s employees.
As demonstrated by the parties’ briefing, the determination of liability questions as
to potential additional plaintiffs or class members is individualized not just to a particular
employee, but to each week of employment. Granted, the assessment of overtime pay will
always be based on each particular workweek and there will certainly be differences.
However, the nature of the shift work at issue in the present case, the different types of
differentials, non-discretionary bonuses, and premium pay would make it extremely
difficult to determine liability on a collective basis across a broad range of employees.
Setpoint increases the hourly rate for a number of differentials, including: (1) field pay, (2)
field supervisor pay, (3) offshore field pay, (4) shift differential pay, (5) field shift
differential pay, (6) field shift differential pay for supervisors, (7) shop hazardous materials
pay; (8) field service hazardous material pay; (9) special cleaning procedures pay; and (10)
field special cleaning procedures pay. (D.E. 22-8). The variety of differentials is an
indication of the variety of job assignments and work performed by Setpoint’s employees.
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The nature of the work will result in different job assignments and will likely change the
amount and rate of compensation on an individualized basis. Additionally, Defendant does
work for industrial plants whose operations likely vary from plant to plant. The nature of
the work, the hours of the work, the need or lack of need for routine overtime or work on
the weekends will vary depending on Setpoint’s clients. Further, while a pressure relief
valve technician, such as Plaintiff, may have many overtime hours in Defendant’s Corpus
Christi shop, a valve technician at another location may not. Regardless of the location,
other categories of employees may have completely different working hours, shifts and
responsibilities, all of which will affect the correct calculation of that employee’s
compensation.
The second factor in the Lusardi analysis is the various defenses available to the
defendant which appear to be individual to each plaintiff. This factor weighs in favor of
not granting conditional certification. While Defendant’s primary defense is that it is
entitled to offsets or credits, that determination is highly individualized. Defendant cannot
present its offset defense in connection with a broad and varied class of employees without
a specific individualized analysis of each plaintiff’s applicable workweek. See Klick v.
Cenikor Found., 94 F.4th 362, 373 (5th Cir. 2024) (remanding to the district court to
consider whether defendant’s offset defense would present wide and obvious liability
variations barring the application of the FLSA). However, this is less of a concern if the
opt-in plaintiffs are narrowly defined and are truly similarly situated. For example, if the
group of employees were defined only to include Kubala’s co-workers who held the same
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position and worked at the same location, Defendant’s concerns about presenting its
defense are minimized.
The third Lusardi factor is fairness and procedural considerations. Swales, 985 F.3d
at 437. Among the concerns under this factor are judicial economy, the expense of litigation
and conserving resources. Conserving resources and judicial economy are only achieved
when the court is able to define a class of truly similarly situated employees. Id. at 442.
The less similar the members of the class, the greater the expenses, and use of resources in
litigating the action. As discussed above, the liability determination of this case is specific
to each employee and will likely vary greatly across the Defendant’s operations. Providing
notice to a class as broad as proposed by the Plaintiff would result in the type of real and
practical difficulties for both the Court and the parties that the Fifth Circuit instructed the
district courts to avoid.
The Court may view the facts presented such that the liability issues are so fact
specific that notification to any group of employees is problematic. However, during the
hearing on conditional certification, at the request of the undersigned, counsel for
Defendant presented a list of Setpoint employees who worked in Texas during the relevant
time with job site locations and job descriptions. While the list is not complete to the extent
that not all the employee job titles are listed, it provides a better understanding of
Defendant’s workforce. The list includes approximately 30 employees who worked in the
Corpus Christi area. Of the 30 Corpus Christi employees, approximately 22 worked out of
Setpoint’s Corpus Christi shop. Of those 22, at least four held the position of pressure relief
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valve technician I or II. It is possible there are more than four pressure relief valve
technicians who worked at the Defendant’s Corpus Christi shop because the list of job
descriptions is not complete. However, the number of pressure relief valve technicians who
worked at the Corpus Christi shop is manageable and it will not be difficult for the parties
to investigate, discover, and litigate whether Defendant properly paid overtime to this
group of employees. Additionally, it is likely that the type of work assignments, hours,
differentials, premium pay and other factors will be similar for this class of worker. The
issues relating to liability and methodology of assessing damages, if any, while
individualized, will be similar among this group of employees. While the assessment of
overtime wages will be particular to each employee, Plaintiff has established that this task
is not overly burdensome and the process will be similar as to the other pressure relief valve
technicians. Looking at the evidence presented by the parties, the undersigned finds
Plaintiff has met his burden of establishing that Defendant’s pressure relief valve
technicians who worked at the Corpus Christi shop are similarly situated. However,
Plaintiff has not met his burden to establish that a larger group or class is similarly situated.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons given above, it is respectfully recommended that the Court direct
notice of this lawsuit be provided to:
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All hourly Setpoint employees who worked at the Corpus Christi shop
as pressure relief valve technicians I or II during the last three years
through final resolution of this Action.3
The parties are not in complete agreement about the notice forms and the methods
of notice, but they are close. Having considered the arguments of counsel, the undersigned
recommends the Court approve notice by regular mail, email, and text with one reminder
notice using one of these delivery methods. The email should be directed to the employees’
private email addresses as opposed to their work email unless a private email address is
unavailable. To finalize the commencement of notice, the parties should be ordered to
confer and file a joint motion for the Court’s final approval of the notice forms and
procedures with a proposed order.
Respectfully submitted on April 29, 2026.
_______________________________
Jason B. Libby
United States Magistrate Judge
3It is unnecessary to use the terms “shift differential” or “non-discretionary additional
compensation” or “non-discretionary bonuses” because defining the group as pressure relief valve
technicians I or II will include the appropriate employees.
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NOTICE TO PARTIES
The Clerk will file this Memorandum and Recommendation and transmit a copy to
each party or counsel. Within FOURTEEN (14) DAYS after being served with a copy of
the Memorandum and Recommendation, a party may file with the Clerk and serve on the
United States Magistrate Judge and all parties, written objections, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ.
P. 72(b), 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), General Order No. 2002-13, United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas.
A party’s failure to file written objections to the proposed findings, conclusions, and
recommendation in a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation within FOURTEEN
(14) DAYS after being served with a copy shall bar that party, except upon grounds of
plain error, from attacking on appeal the unobjected-to proposed factual findings and legal
conclusions accepted by the District Court. Douglass v. United Servs. Auto Ass’n, 79 F.3d
1415 (5th Cir. 1996) (en banc).
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OCR transcription for search; preserved printed pages are authoritative

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United States District Court
Southem District of Texas

ENTERED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT Apnil 30, 2026
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Nathan Ochsner, Clerk
CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION
TED KUBALA, JR.,
Plaintiff,
VS. CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:25-CV-00108

SETPOINT INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS,
INC.,

Defendant.

Gr Lr Or Orn Orn Ln rn On Ln

MEMORANDUM AND RECOMMENDATION
ON “PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR CONDITIONAL CERTIFCATION
AND COURT APPROVED NOTICE IN THIS FLSA ACTION”

This is an action concerning overtime wages brought under the Fair Labor Standards
Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seg. The Court ordered, and the parties have completed,
limited discovery on the issue of whether the Court should approve notice to similarly
situated employees. (D.E. 15; D.E. 19; D.E. 20; and D.E. 21). Pending is Plaintiff Ted
Kubala, Jr.’s Motion for Conditional Certification Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) and
Issuance of Court-Authorized Notice. (D.E. 22). The Motion has been referred to the
undersigned Magistrate Judge. Defendant Setpoint Integrated Solutions, Inc. (“Setpoint”)
has filed a Memorandum in Opposition. (D.E. 23). The parties have been permitted to file
additional briefs which include a reply, sur-reply, and a rejoinder. (D.E. 27, D.E. 35, D.E.
37). Additionally, counsel for the parties appeared in person and presented oral arguments

on April 22, 2026. As set forth in more detail below, having considered the parties’

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briefing, exhibits, arguments, and the relevant law, the undersigned finds that the Motion
should be GRANTED in part. (D.E. 22).
I. BACKGROUND
The FLSA requires employers to provide overtime compensation for its nonexempt
employees “for a workweek longer than forty hours.” 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). For non-
exempt employees, the FLSA requires overtime to be calculated at one and a half times the
regular rate. This case is about whether Setpoint properly calculated Kubala’s overtime
wages. The instant motion concerns whether there are Setpoint employees who are
“similarly situated” to Kubala who should be provided notice of this litigation and advised
of their rights to join in this lawsuit.
Kubala is a former employee of Setpoint. Setpoint is a Delaware Corporation with
its principal place of business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Setpoint provides repair and
other services for refineries, chemical plants, power plants, and other industrial businesses,
primarily in Texas and Louisiana but also in other states. Between approximately August
2024 and April 2025, Kubala worked as a pressure relief valve technician I, primarily in
Setpoint’s Corpus Christi “shop” located in Corpus Christi, Texas. Kubala’s assigned tasks
included working on and repairing industrial valves. A large portion of his tasks involved
work coming from the local Valero petroleum refineries. Plaintiff received an hourly wage,
but he also received shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses. Generally, a shift
differential is an increase in the hourly rate for less desirable or more demanding shifts,
such as the night shift or working out of the shop in the field. Setpoint’s employment
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documents more thoroughly define these terms. (D.E. 22-8). Kubala also received certain
non-discretionary bonuses. How the non-discretionary bonuses were calculated is not
important to the case at this stage, but they generally involved safety, productivity, and
efficiency. (D.E. 22-5). For purposes of the decision regarding whether employees are
similarly situated and whether the court should order notice to employees of a putative
FLSA collective, Setpoint agrees the relevant bonuses were in fact non-discretionary.
Kubala alleges Setpoint’s method of calculating overtime wages resulted in the
underpayment of his overtime wages for some of his workweeks. The required overtime
rate for non-exempt employees is one and a half times the regular hourly rate. Therefore,
a higher hourly base rate results in a higher overtime rate. With some exceptions, not
applicable here, the FLSA requires that when determining the hourly base rate, increases
for shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses must be included.1
In the present Motion, Kubala asks the Court to define a group of similarly situated
Setpoint employees and to provide notice to these employees of the action and to allow this
case to proceed as a collective action. Specifically, Kubala seeks the issuance of Court-
authorized notice to potential collective members to inform them of this action and of their
rights. Specifically, Kubala seeks notice to the following Setpoint employees:
All hourly Setpoint employees who were paid a shift differential and/or
non-discretionary additional compensation and/or non-discretionary
129 U.S.C. § 207(e). See also Plaintiff’s Ex. 3 & 4. U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #56C:
Bonuses under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)(D.E. 22-3); and U.S. Office of Personnel
Management fact sheet regarding night shift differentials (explaining how the U.S. federal
government applies the FLSA to shift differentials for its own employees)(D.E. 22-4).
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bonuses during the last three years through final resolution of this
Action (the “Hourly Employees”).
Setpoint agrees that it does not include the shift differentials or non-discretionary
bonuses when calculating the base rate. However, Setpoint explains this methodology does
not run afoul of the FLSA because employers are entitled to offsets for certain premium
rates paid for hours worked on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Setpoint pays time and
a half for work on Saturdays and double time for work on Sundays and holidays. The
FLSA provides for an offset of the overtime due to an employee for the extra premium pay
paid to that employee for the applicable work week. 29 U.S.C. § 207(h)(2). For example,
if an employee is owed $100.00 in overtime compensation for a work week but received
$100.00 in premium pay for that week because he worked on Sunday, the employee is not
owed any additional compensation for overtime. However, if the employee is owed
$100.00 in overtime compensation for a workweek, but received $60.00 in premium pay,
the employee is due an additional $40.00 for overtime wages. Setpoint argues this method
of calculating overtime compensation is proper and it is entitled to offsets for voluntary
premium compensation. Setpoint further argues that determining whether an FLSA
violation occurred requires a separate, individualized determination of each pay week of
each employee and that the hours and shifts employees work varies greatly depending on
a variety of factors.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
The FLSA permits one or more employees to bring an action for overtime
compensation on “behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated.”
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29 U.S.C. § 216(b). The FLSA authorizes court approved notice to similarly situated
employees. Similarly situated employees must opt in to be part of the action. Sandoz v.
Cingular Wireless LLC, 553 F.3d 913, 915 (5th Cir. 2008) (citing 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)).
Much of the litigation in these cases involves which employees are similarly situated and
how does the trial court define those employees.
The undersigned has previously presided over several FLSA actions and motions
for notice or conditional certification, as the term was used at that time. However, most of
those cases were resolved prior to Swales v. KLLM Transport Servs., 985 F.3d 430, 441
(5th Cir. 2021). Prior to Swales, this Court, like most Courts in the Southern District of
Texas, applied the two-step Lusardi approach. Lusardi v. Xerox, Corp., 118 F.R.D. 351
(D.N.J. 1987). Step one was often called the notification stage or “conditional certification”
stage and applied a very lenient standard. Step two involved a determination as to whether
the opt-in plaintiffs were similarly situated and whether the case may proceed to trial as a
collective. Swales at 436-37.
In pre-Swales cases applying the Lusardi approach, the undersigned does not recall
ever having denied an FLSA plaintiff’s motion for court ordered notice. There were a
number of instances where the undersigned ordered notice to “similarly situated”
employees who, as it turned out, were not in fact all that similarly situated. The
undersigned’s practice of not more scrupulously or narrowly tailoring the scope of the
employees eligible to participate in the action resulted in overly broad “classes” of
plaintiffs. These broadly defined classes resulted in “differently situated” plaintiffs opting
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 5 of 20

6 / 14
in to the action. By the decertification stage, so many differently situated employees had
opted-in that cases became difficult to manage and decertify in an efficient manner.
Broadly defining similarly situated employees resulted in difficulties and problems for
pretrial case management, conducting discovery, decertification, trying the cases
collectively, and determining damages. Additionally, leniently granting motions for
conditional certification with broad groups of employees significantly increased the costs
of litigation at the very beginning of the case.
In Swales, the Fifth Circuit rejected the two-step Lusardi approach and noted several
times that the FLSA statute says nothing about “conditional certification.” The Fifth Circuit
directed the district courts to consider early in the case whether merits questions can be
answered collectively. Now, district courts should more carefully consider whether
similarly situated employees exist before ordering notice. The district courts are directed
to consider merits issues at the beginning of the case, before ordering notice, rather than
ordering notice and later trying to clean up the case. Swales, 985 F.3d at 441. Before
deciding whether to order notice, the Court should order preliminary discovery necessary
to make a swift decision on whether there are similarly situated employees. Id. The Fifth
Circuit acknowledged the Lusardi factors may be useful in determining whether employees
are situated. The factors are: (1) the disparate factual and employment settings of the
individual plaintiffs; (2) the various defenses available to the defendant which appear to be
individual to each plaintiff; and (3) fairness and procedural considerations. Id. at 437.
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 6 of 20

7 / 14
Plaintiff bears the burden of making a preliminary factual showing that a similarly
situated group of potential plaintiffs exists. Swales at 443. In determining whether a group
is similarly situated, courts are to consider “whether merits questions can be answered
collectively.” Loy v. Rehab Synergies, L.L.C., 71 F.4th 329, 336 (5th Cir. 2023) (quoting
Swales at 442). “If answering the merits questions ‘requires a highly individualized inquiry
into each potential opt-in's circumstances,’ then the employees are likely not similarly
situated.” Id. (quoting Swales, 985 F.3d at 442). The district court has broad, litigation-
management discretion when determining whether plaintiffs and potential opt-in plaintiffs
are similarly situated. Id. at 443. A district court may modify the proposed class definition
if it is overly broad. See Baldridge v. SBC Commc’ns, Inc., 404 F.3d 930, 931–32 (5th Cir.
2005) (recognizing a court’s power to “limit the scope” of a proposed FLSA action).
In deciding whether similarly situated employees exist, a court may (1) conclude
that the plaintiffs’ and opt-ins are too diverse a group to support a collective action; (2)
decide the court needs further discovery to make a determination; or (3) find only certain
subcategories of employees should receive notice. Cortez v. Casa do Brasil, LLC, 646 F.
Supp. 3d 847, 852–54 (S.D. Tex. 2022) (citing Eltayeb v. Deli Mgmt., Inc., No. 4:20-CV-
00385, 2021 WL 5907781, at *2 (E.D. Tex. Dec. 14, 2021)) (internal quotations omitted).
III. ANALYSIS
The undersigned first addresses whether there are disparate factual and employment
settings. The Court should “assesses the opt-in plaintiffs’ job duties, geographic location,
supervision, and salary to determine if the potential opt-ins are similarly situated.” Snively
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 7 of 20

8 / 14
v. Peak Pressure Control, LLC, 314 F. Supp. 3d 734, 739 (W.D. Tex. 2018). The parties’
briefing, arguments, and evidence demonstrated to the Court that the determination of
whether Mr. Kubala was properly compensated for overtime for any particular workweek
requires an individualized examination of a number of factors. These factors include the
number of hours worked in that week, the amount of straight time pay, the amount of
compensation for differentials, the amount paid for non-discretionary bonuses, the amount
paid for premium pay (weekends and holidays), the amount of overtime due under the
FLSA, the amount Kubala was actually paid, and then determining whether the amount
Kubala received for premium pay is sufficient to offset or cover the amount of overtime
due.
Defendant’s briefing includes such analysis for one of Kubala’s workweeks. (D.E.
23, pp. 7-9). For that workweek, Defendant maintains the evidence shows Kubala was
properly compensated and received $98.17 more than the FLSA required. Plaintiff did a
similar analysis; however, Plaintiff’s analysis includes each of Kubala’s work weeks from
Augst 2023 through April 27, 2025. Plaintiff offered a color copy of his Exhibit 1 at the
hearing on conditional certification which is attached to this M&R.2 The last column
represents the Plaintiff’s calculations as to whether Kubala was underpaid for overtime for
a particular week. The numbers preceded with a “-” sign represent the dollar amount
Kubala was underpaid for that week for overtime, according to Plaintiff. Out of the 89
2A black and white copy of Plaintiff’s exhibit 1 is located on the Court’s electronic docket. (D.E.
39, pp. 2-4).
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 8 of 20

9 / 14
weeks represented in the table, Kubala was reportedly underpaid a total of $266.45 for
overtime wages for the entire time he worked for Setpoint. Of those 89 weeks, Kubala was
reportedly underpaid overtime for 25 weeks, with the smallest weekly underpayment being
$.44 and the largest underpayment being $38.90. The table reflects that Mr. Kubala
received overtime compensation in accordance with the FLSA for 64 of the 84 weeks of
his employment. If Kubala was in fact underpaid by Defendant as represented in the
Plaintiff’s exhibit, the methodology is not so inherently flawed to warrant notice to a broad
group of Defendant’s employees.
As demonstrated by the parties’ briefing, the determination of liability questions as
to potential additional plaintiffs or class members is individualized not just to a particular
employee, but to each week of employment. Granted, the assessment of overtime pay will
always be based on each particular workweek and there will certainly be differences.
However, the nature of the shift work at issue in the present case, the different types of
differentials, non-discretionary bonuses, and premium pay would make it extremely
difficult to determine liability on a collective basis across a broad range of employees.
Setpoint increases the hourly rate for a number of differentials, including: (1) field pay, (2)
field supervisor pay, (3) offshore field pay, (4) shift differential pay, (5) field shift
differential pay, (6) field shift differential pay for supervisors, (7) shop hazardous materials
pay; (8) field service hazardous material pay; (9) special cleaning procedures pay; and (10)
field special cleaning procedures pay. (D.E. 22-8). The variety of differentials is an
indication of the variety of job assignments and work performed by Setpoint’s employees.
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 9 of 20

10 / 14
The nature of the work will result in different job assignments and will likely change the
amount and rate of compensation on an individualized basis. Additionally, Defendant does
work for industrial plants whose operations likely vary from plant to plant. The nature of
the work, the hours of the work, the need or lack of need for routine overtime or work on
the weekends will vary depending on Setpoint’s clients. Further, while a pressure relief
valve technician, such as Plaintiff, may have many overtime hours in Defendant’s Corpus
Christi shop, a valve technician at another location may not. Regardless of the location,
other categories of employees may have completely different working hours, shifts and
responsibilities, all of which will affect the correct calculation of that employee’s
compensation.
The second factor in the Lusardi analysis is the various defenses available to the
defendant which appear to be individual to each plaintiff. This factor weighs in favor of
not granting conditional certification. While Defendant’s primary defense is that it is
entitled to offsets or credits, that determination is highly individualized. Defendant cannot
present its offset defense in connection with a broad and varied class of employees without
a specific individualized analysis of each plaintiff’s applicable workweek. See Klick v.
Cenikor Found., 94 F.4th 362, 373 (5th Cir. 2024) (remanding to the district court to
consider whether defendant’s offset defense would present wide and obvious liability
variations barring the application of the FLSA). However, this is less of a concern if the
opt-in plaintiffs are narrowly defined and are truly similarly situated. For example, if the
group of employees were defined only to include Kubala’s co-workers who held the same
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 10 of 20

11 / 14
position and worked at the same location, Defendant’s concerns about presenting its
defense are minimized.
The third Lusardi factor is fairness and procedural considerations. Swales, 985 F.3d
at 437. Among the concerns under this factor are judicial economy, the expense of litigation
and conserving resources. Conserving resources and judicial economy are only achieved
when the court is able to define a class of truly similarly situated employees. Id. at 442.
The less similar the members of the class, the greater the expenses, and use of resources in
litigating the action. As discussed above, the liability determination of this case is specific
to each employee and will likely vary greatly across the Defendant’s operations. Providing
notice to a class as broad as proposed by the Plaintiff would result in the type of real and
practical difficulties for both the Court and the parties that the Fifth Circuit instructed the
district courts to avoid.
The Court may view the facts presented such that the liability issues are so fact
specific that notification to any group of employees is problematic. However, during the
hearing on conditional certification, at the request of the undersigned, counsel for
Defendant presented a list of Setpoint employees who worked in Texas during the relevant
time with job site locations and job descriptions. While the list is not complete to the extent
that not all the employee job titles are listed, it provides a better understanding of
Defendant’s workforce. The list includes approximately 30 employees who worked in the
Corpus Christi area. Of the 30 Corpus Christi employees, approximately 22 worked out of
Setpoint’s Corpus Christi shop. Of those 22, at least four held the position of pressure relief
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 11 of 20

12 / 14
valve technician I or II. It is possible there are more than four pressure relief valve
technicians who worked at the Defendant’s Corpus Christi shop because the list of job
descriptions is not complete. However, the number of pressure relief valve technicians who
worked at the Corpus Christi shop is manageable and it will not be difficult for the parties
to investigate, discover, and litigate whether Defendant properly paid overtime to this
group of employees. Additionally, it is likely that the type of work assignments, hours,
differentials, premium pay and other factors will be similar for this class of worker. The
issues relating to liability and methodology of assessing damages, if any, while
individualized, will be similar among this group of employees. While the assessment of
overtime wages will be particular to each employee, Plaintiff has established that this task
is not overly burdensome and the process will be similar as to the other pressure relief valve
technicians. Looking at the evidence presented by the parties, the undersigned finds
Plaintiff has met his burden of establishing that Defendant’s pressure relief valve
technicians who worked at the Corpus Christi shop are similarly situated. However,
Plaintiff has not met his burden to establish that a larger group or class is similarly situated.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons given above, it is respectfully recommended that the Court direct
notice of this lawsuit be provided to:
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 12 of 20

13 / 14
All hourly Setpoint employees who worked at the Corpus Christi shop
as pressure relief valve technicians I or II during the last three years
through final resolution of this Action.3
The parties are not in complete agreement about the notice forms and the methods
of notice, but they are close. Having considered the arguments of counsel, the undersigned
recommends the Court approve notice by regular mail, email, and text with one reminder
notice using one of these delivery methods. The email should be directed to the employees’
private email addresses as opposed to their work email unless a private email address is
unavailable. To finalize the commencement of notice, the parties should be ordered to
confer and file a joint motion for the Court’s final approval of the notice forms and
procedures with a proposed order.
Respectfully submitted on April 29, 2026.
_______________________________
Jason B. Libby
United States Magistrate Judge
3It is unnecessary to use the terms “shift differential” or “non-discretionary additional
compensation” or “non-discretionary bonuses” because defining the group as pressure relief valve
technicians I or II will include the appropriate employees.
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 13 of 20

14 / 14
NOTICE TO PARTIES
The Clerk will file this Memorandum and Recommendation and transmit a copy to
each party or counsel. Within FOURTEEN (14) DAYS after being served with a copy of
the Memorandum and Recommendation, a party may file with the Clerk and serve on the
United States Magistrate Judge and all parties, written objections, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ.
P. 72(b), 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), General Order No. 2002-13, United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas.
A party’s failure to file written objections to the proposed findings, conclusions, and
recommendation in a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation within FOURTEEN
(14) DAYS after being served with a copy shall bar that party, except upon grounds of
plain error, from attacking on appeal the unobjected-to proposed factual findings and legal
conclusions accepted by the District Court. Douglass v. United Servs. Auto Ass’n, 79 F.3d
1415 (5th Cir. 1996) (en banc).
Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 14 of 20

Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 15 of 20

Name Date it 2. Tote E a: Rate 6, ae oe kts DES TOEaL |
Ted L Kubala 8/20/23 126.36 40.00 1,206.36 0.00 30.16 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 8/27/23 126.36 40.28 1,214.01 3.83 30.14 4.27 -0.44
Ted L Kubala 9/3/23 126.36 39.77 1,200.06 0.00 30.18 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 9/10/23 126.36 33.35 1,026.81 ~ Q.00 30.79 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 9/17/23 126.36 58.88 1,716.21 360.00 29.15 275.19 84.81
Ted L Kubala 9/24/23 126.36 46.83 1,390.86 92.25 29.70 101.47 co -22
Ted L Kubala 10/1/23 142.56 45.73 1,377.36 77.40 30.12 86.34 -8.94
Ted L Kubala 10/15/23 142.56 72.00 2,230.56 594.00 30.98 495.68 98.32
Ted L Kubala 10/22/23 142.56 68.57 2,020.86 385.65 29.47 420.97 “39.52
Ted L Kubala 10/29/23 142.56 40.00 1,306.56 0.00 32.66 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 11/5/23 142.56 61.37 1,889.46 339.93 30.79 328.94 60.99
Ted L Kubala 11/12/23 758.16 142.56 60.92 1,871.31 282.38 30.72 321.27 -38.90
Ted L Kubala 11/19/23 142.56 40.00 1,306.56 0.00 32.66 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 11/26/23 142.56 30.00 1,015.56 0.00 33.85 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 12/3/23 142.56 56.13 1,742.16 217.80 31.04 250.36 -32.56
Ted L Kubala 12/10/23 142.56 34.45 1,114.71 67.28 32.36 80.62 =13.35
Ted L Kubala 12/17/23 142.56 46.42 1,395.31 86.63 30.07 96.48 -9.85
Ted L Kubala 12/24/23 142.56 40.00 1,306.56 0.00 32.66 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 12/31/23 30.00 873.00 0.00 29.10 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 1/7/24 33.02 891.45 0.00 27.00 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 1/14/24 34.93 943.15 0.00 27.00 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 1/21/24 46.20 1,277.34 137.47 27.65 140.77 3.31
Ted L Kubala 1/28/24 62.43 1,698.56 359.78 27.21 305.16 54.61
Ted L Kubala 2/4/24 57.15 1,543.05 323.78 27.00 231.53 92.25
Ted L Kubala 2/11/24 77.03 2,079.90 634.05 27.00 499.95 134.10
Ted L Kubala 2/18/24 1,853.28 75.20 2,072.40 609.30 27.56 485.03 124.27
Ted L Kubala 2/25/24 1,696.50 308.25 27.00 308.25 0.00
Ted L Kubala 3/3/24 1,803.00 351.00 27.32 355.14 4.14
Ted L Kubala 3/10/24 1,509.60 204.30 27.38 207.18 -2.88
Ted L Kubala 3/17/24 1,879.24 356.63 28.29 373.73 -17.10
Ted L Kubala 3/24/24 1,819.35 405.90 27.00 369.68 36.23
Ted L Kubala 3/31/24 1,118.70 19.35 27.00 19.35 0.00
Ted L Kubala 4/7/24 2,149.02 551.48 28.63 501.82 49.66

Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 16 of 20

Ted L Kubala 4/14/24 66.63 1,878.68 521.55 28.19 375.45 146.10
Ted L Kubala 4/21/24 44.93 1,213.20 229.05 27.00 160.43 68.63
Ted L Kubala 4/28/24 38.62 1,156.65 0.00 29.95 0.00 —0.00
Ted L Kubala 5/5/24 55.08 1,556.55 203.63 28.26 213.11 -9.49
Ted L Kubala 5/12/24 57.23 1,545.30 232.65 27.00 232.65 0.00
Ted L Kubala 5/19/24 66.75 1,885.66 390.60 28.25 377.84 12.76
Ted L Kubala 5/26/24 55.78 1,506.15 213.08 27.00 213.08 0.00
Ted L Kubala 6/2/24 43.52 1,247.70 47.48 28.67 50.41 -2.94
Ted L Kubala 6/9/24 47.18 1,273.95 96.98 27.00 96.98 0.00
Ted L Kubala 6/16/24 23.60 669.60 0.00 28.37 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 6/23/24 37.35 1,039.95 0.00 27.84 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 6/30/24 44.05 1,217.59 54.68 27.64 55.97 -1.30
Ted L Kubala 7/7/24 35.38 955.35 0.00 27.00 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 7/14/24 46.57 1,278.30 98.33 27.45 99.97 -1.64
Ted L Kubala 7/21/24 52.07 1,503.80 162.90 28.88 174.26 -11.36
Ted L Kubala 7/28/24 47.53 1,360.89 104.24 28.63 107.84 -3.60
Ted L Kubala 3/4/24 57.52 1,712.78 242.39 29.78 260.81 -18.43
Ted L Kubala 8/11/24 38.88 1,139.10 0.00 29.30 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 8/18/24 51.80 1,478.05 163.28 28.53 168.35 5.07
Ted L Kubala 8/25/24 53.17 1,538.83 182.19 28.94 190.54 8.35
Ted L Kubala 9/1/24 31.08 860.23 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 9/8/24 39.95 1,105.62 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 9/15/24 48.27 1,394.78 114.39 28.90 119.44 5.05
Ted L Kubala 9/22/24 41.32 1,206.99 18.22 29.21 19.23 -1.01
Ted L Kubala 9/29/24 44.43 1,229.69 61.35 - 27.68 61.35 0.00
Ted L Kubala 10/6/24 34.00 940.95 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 10/13/24 57.85 1,622.15 293.12 28.04 250.26 42.86
Ted L Kubala 10/20/24 54.85 1,599.18 279.29 29.16 216.48 62.81
Ted L Kubala 10/27/24 39.82 1,101.93 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 11/3/24 40.12 1,110.23 1.61 27.68 1.61 0.00
Ted L Kubala 11/10/24 40.43 1,159.39 6.00 28.67 6.21 0.22
Ted L Kubala 11/17/24 32.08 887.90 0.00 27.67 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 11/24/24 45.83 1,268.43 80.72 27.67 80.72 0.00
Ted L Kubala 12/1/24 17.17 475.09 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00

Ted L Kubala 12/8/24 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Case 2:25-cv-00108 Document 40 Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 17 of 20

Ted L Kubala 12/15/24 44.75 1,238.46 65.73 _ 27.68 65.73 0.00
Ted L Kubala 12/22/24 63.67 1,880.33 327.49 29.53 349.48 -22.00
Ted L Kubala 12/29/24 16.62 459.87 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 1/5/25 25.73 712.17 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 1/12/25 40.67 © 1,125.45 * 9.23 27.68 9.23 0.00
Ted L Kubala 1/19/25 39.95 1,105.62 0.00 27.68 0.00 0.00
Ted L Kubala 1/26/25 65.52 1,894.17 497,92 28.91 368.86 129.06
Ted L Kubala 2/2/25 32.03 886.52 103.32 27.67 103.32 0.00
Ted L Kubala 2/9/25 40.88 1,131.45 12.22 27.68 12.22 0.00
Ted L Kubala 2/16/25 74.90 2,171.17 544.51 28.99 505.83 38.67
Ted L Kubala 2/23/25 57.60 1,670.12 311.57 29.00 255.16 56.42
Ted L Kubala 3/2/25 72.93 2,018.43 604.47 27.68 455.72 148.75
Ted L Kubala 3/9/25 77.70 2,234.21 658.43 28.75 542.02 116.42
Ted L Kubala 3/16/25 21.95 607.47 445.57 27.68 303.73 141.83
Ted L Kubala 3/23/25 66.97 1,853.30 428.50 27.68 373.15 55.35
Ted L Kubala 3/30/25 75.98 2,148.15 654.05 28.27 508.65 145.40
Ted L Kubala 4/6/25 51.47 1,453.79 276.75 28.25 161.95 114.80
Ted L Kubala 4/13/25 74.53 2,150.61 533.21 28.85 498.22 34.99
Ted L Kubala 4/20/25 72.22 2,082.60 646.44 28.84 464.54 181.91
Ted L Kubala 4/27/25 70.80 1,986.14 555.81 28.05 432.01 123.79

Case 2:25-cv-00108

Location
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production
SIS -La Porte - Field Service
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
SIS - La Parte - Customer Service
SIS - Kilgore - Accounting & Finance
SIS - La Porte - Branch Planning & Service
Coordination
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Warehouse
SIS - La Porte - Accounting & Finance
SIS - La Porte - Field Service
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Management
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Field Servica
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Field Service
SIS - Kilgore - Customer Service
‘SIS - La Porte - Field Serica
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
‘SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christ - Shop Production
‘SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Field Service
SIS - Port Arthur- Shop Production
SIS - Kilgore - Warehouse
SIS - LaPorte - Shop Management
SIS - Kilgore - Field Service
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Field Service
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Fle!d Service
SIS - Richwood - Warehouse
SIS - Richwood - Customer Service
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
‘SIS - Port Arthur - Warehouse
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Management
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Field Service
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Management
SIS - La Porte - Fleld Service
SIS - Corpus Christi - Field Service
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
81S - Port Arthur - Shop Management
SIS - La Porte - Administration
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Warehouse
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS -La Porte - Fleld Service
SIS - La Porte - Field Service
SIS - Kigore - Shop Production
SIS - Kigore - Shop Producton
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production

PD.61529138.1

Employee
Abinadi Hernandez - 101193
Abram Garcia - 101282
Agustin Martinez - 101200
Agustin Razo - 101998
Albert Maciel - 101851
Alex Naniho - 102895
Alexander Zavala - 100977
Alexis Turner - 101902
Amber Keifer - 101379
Ana Moran - 101930

Andrew Chamberlain - 101912
Angela Bennett - 101925
Angeleigha Davis - 101061
Anthony Alvarez - 101918
Anthony Garela - 100950
Anthony Jones - 100336
Antony Thomas - 101965
Antron Harland - 101312
Austen O'Day - 101771
Barry Widener - 100841
Betsy Golden - 100499
Billy Hearne - 100330
Bradley Harmeler - 101500
Brandon Fritts - 101841
Byron Lara - 101580
Carlos Delgado - 100984
Carlos Range! - 100926
Carlos Sangurima - 101776
‘Chad Grigar - 100815
Charles Williams - 101951
Christopher Brunner - 101224
Clae Carganiila - 101533
Clayton Allen - 100518
Clayton Daigle - 101559
Cody Casteel - 101919
Cody Wilson - 101622
Colby Sanders - 101979
Colton Rogers - 101439
Courtney Anderson - 101769
Dalberto Casares - 101456
Daniel Musgrove - 101793
Danny Serna - 101352
Darren McDaniel - 100862
Dawson Hall - 102945
Devan Girod - 100990
Devin Sims - 100979
Diego Rodriguez - 101615
Dillon Gardiner - 101534
Dorris Livings - 100494
Dustin Moore - 100466
Edgar Ramirez - 100258
Edgar Salazar - 101898
Enrique Garcia - 100893
Eric Sanchez - 101935
Erick Privado - 101858
Ernesto Galindo - 101944
Ethan Rivera - 101375
Francisco Hernandez - 101797
Gabriel Pena - 100863
Garrett Basden - 101800
Gavin Curtice - 100771
Gloria Avery - 101948
Harlin Eddington - 101807
Hector Hinojosa - 100995
Holden Just - 101578
Horacio Gonzalez - 101942
Ignacto Cosme - 101543
Isalas Ramirez - 101907
Jacob Caruso - 101975
Jacob Hamm - 100973
Jacob Wempe - 101827
James Evans - 100884
Jared Lee - 100981
Jeffery Cooper - 100834

Document 40

Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD ‘Page 18 of 20

Date Range Eamings

2,142,500
1,624.060
1,638.620

907.580
2,418,960
2,576.920
1,705.020
4,576,000
3,979.040
4,738.010

1,131.520

814.910
5,704,920
2,894.550
2.167.990
2,731,620
3,396,820
3,950,000
2,309,840
2,883,520
4,041,440
4,158,160
4,281,160

913.540
5,990.400
4,399.800
4,853,790
1,791.680
3,859.410
8.461.600
3,219.210
2.163.600
2,599.290
1,570.820
1,899.130

913.540
2,498,000
1,386.040
4,898.960
2,997.850

913.540
1,148,160
3,983,890
2,225,880
2,910.240
3,728.320
2,789.290
2,900.330
4,372.990
1,189,760
2.450.240
1,350,320
4,468,570
1.496.350
1,302.480
3,596.400
3.421.730
2,310.610
3,769,460
1,668.160
2,687,360

571.430

973.440
3.476.810
1,150,040
2.479.140
1,097.70

1,131.520°

19,484,600
11,022,550
973.440
1,874,190
1,627.620
3,248,800

Year Job

2023

2023 Operations Supervisor

2023 Control Valve Technician |

2023

2023 Pressure Relief Valve Techaician Il
2025 Pressure Relief Valve Techniclan |
2023 Inside Sales Representative Ill - PP
2024 Order Entry Specialist Il

2023 Production Coordinator |

2024

2023

2023

2023

2023

2023

2023 Operations Supervisor

2023

2024 Asset Manager

2023 Pressure Rellef Valve Technician ll

2023

2023
2023 Asset Manager

2023 Gauge Assembly Techniclan
2023

2025 Pressure Relief Valve Technician Il
2023 Control Valve Technician Ill

2023 Account Manager|

2023

2023

2023 Fiald Service Technician - PRV Ill
2023 Warehouse Coordinator Il

2023

2023

2023

2023

2023

2024
2023 Production Coordinator Il

2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician |
2023

2023
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician!

2023 Field Service Technician - PRV II
2025 Warehouse Coordinator |
2025 Customer Service Specialist I

2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023 Field Service Supervisor

2023
2023 Field Service Technician - PRV!
2023
2023

2023
2023 Asset Manager

2023 Control Valve Technician Il

2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023
2023

2023
2025 Field Service Supervisor

2025 Field Service Technician - IVA Ill
2023

2023
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician ill

2023 AssetEngineer

Department

Shop Production
Shop Producton

Shop Production

Shop Production

Inside Sales

Customer Service

Branch Planning & Service Coordination

Shop Production

Field Service
Shop Production

Field Service
Shop Production

Shop Production
Shop Production
Outside Sales

Field Service
Warehouse

Branch Planning & Service Coordination
Shop Production

Shop Production
Field Service
Warehouse
Customer Service

Field Service

Field Service

Field Service
Shop Production

Shop Production
Shop Production

Case 2:25-cv-00108
Document 40
Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 19 of 20
SIS - La Porte - Corporate Operations
Jeffrey Lopez - 102000
6,838.860
2024
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Field Service
Jeremy Hendricks - 100936
1,929.000
2023 Operations Supervisor
Jeremy Whatley - 101773
3.269.330
2023 Field Service Technician - CV II
Jerry Gray - 100519
1,911.730
2023
1,345.160
2023
4,355.020
2023 Field Service Technician - PRV JU
Field Service
1,004.640
2023 Control Velve Technician Il
Shop Production
1,514.240
2023
Jonathan Soirez - 101020
12,115.950
2025 Asset Manager
Field Service
Jordan Riffe - 100918
3.651.600
2023 Warehouse Coordinator al
Warehouse
1,400.280
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician ill
Shop Production
3,276.760
SIS - La Porte - Field Service
Jose Estrada - 100137
2,632.200
SIS - La Porte - Field Service
Jose Garza - 101459
3,528.320
2023 Flei Service Technician - PRV III
Field Service
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
Jose Marinez - 101925 Jose Parez - 100900 Jose Ramos - 102845
Jose Tello - 101583
3,983.110
2023 Order Entry Specialist II
Customer Service
Joseph Armstrong - 100605
1,885.380
2023 Pressure Rekef Valve Technician il:
Shop Production
Joseph Doyle - 101551
2,848.310
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician II
Shop Production
Joshua Meadows - 100898
1,596.420
2023 Operations Supervisor
Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Field Service
Joshua Rivera - 101313
3,228,550
2023 Flekt Service Technician - PRV Ii
Field Service
Joshua Rublo - 100949
3,930.130
2023 Operations Manager
Branch Manegement
Juan Garcia - 100937
3,291.410
2023 Fiekl Service Technician - PRV III
Juan Guevara - 100985
2,704.000
2024 Flekt Service Techniclan - PRVI
SIS - Richwood - Shop Management
Juan Mata - 100814
2.082.860
2023 Operations Supervisor
Shop Production
Juan Quiroz - 100945 Julie Zermeno - 102894
2.213.210
2025 Customer Service Specialist i
Customer Service
Justin Molina - 102007
1,296.540
2023 Operations Supervisor
Shop Production
Kada Whaat - 101823
2,450.240
2023
Kenneth Thurman - 20419
4,110,080
2024 Field Service Technician - MOV In
Field Service
SIS - La Porte - Flekf Service
1,992,360
2023
SIS - Port Arthur - Shap Production
2,987.160
2023 Inspector
Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Warehouse SIS - Kilgore - Warehouse SIS - La Porte - Warehouse
Luis Carteon - 102817
493.060
2024 Warehouse Coordinator ! 2023
Warehouse
SIS - Richwood - Shop Management
Luis Veliz - 101389
4,337.860
Malak Tazi - 101550
1,934.400
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician III
Shop Production
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Management
Manuel Rivera - 101219
3,031,620
2023
6,730.690
2023
2023 Field Service Supervisor
Flek Service
Marion Mayhue - 101490
4,834.980
2023
Marty Hoops - 101854
1,414.400
2023
Matthew Furnarl - 102008
2,769.730
2024 Warehouse Supervisor 2023
Warehouse
Matthew Kresser - 101934
1,580.800
4,830.240
2023 Machinist ili
Shop Production
Michael Alvarado - 100809
3,655,750
2023 Warehouse Coordinator I
Warehouse
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production
Michael Armand - 100488 Michael Jones - 100403
1,784.640
2023
Michael Saathoff - 101970
3,244.800
2024 Pressure Relief Valve Technician II
Shop Production
Miguel Jalmes - 101618 Miguel Ramos - 101633 Miguel Rocha - 101989 Mikqueas Lopez - 100994
3,827.200 2,709.640
2023
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
1,243,040
2023 Production Coordinator II
Branch Planning & Service Coordination
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
Nicholas Korutz - 101389
1,616,990
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician Ili
Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Field Service
Nicholas Lakich - 100859
3,731.660
2023 Field Service Technician - PRV III 2023
Field Service
Nicholas Lecour - 100947
1,639.960
Nicholaus Turner - 101961
4,472.240
2023 Inside Sales Representative EI - IVA
Inside Sales
2023 Warehouse Supervisor
Warehouse
Nolan Tucker - 101905
Patrick Armstrong - 101936
1,722.240
2023 Machinist ill
Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production
Paul Barrett - 101425
1,340.070
2023 Flek Service Technician - PRV II
Field Service
Paul Cortez - 102803
3,494.400
2024 Technician Helper
Shop Production
Paul Kennemur - 101584
3,493.140
2023
Paul Mcdowell - 100343
1,838,720
2023 Operations Supervisor
Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
Pedro Gonzales - 100983
2,163,600
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician III
Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
Pedro Leal - 100925
3,633,610
2023 Pressure Rellel Valve Technician II
Shop Production
2,899,290
2023 Warehouse Coordinator I
Warehouse
SIS - Port Arthur - Warehouse SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Management
Peter Roche - 101613 Preston Herndon - 100849
2,063,880
2023 Operations Supervisor
Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Customer Service SIS - La Porte - Field Service SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Field Service
Kevin Aleman - 101815 Kevin Peters - 100212 Kurt Padgett - 100075 Landon Jones - 100337
2,439.640
2023 Control Valve Technician III
Shop Production
3,120.200
2023 Asset Engineer
Shop Production
Layton Bob - 101850 Lucretia Fuller - 101553
1.951.430
2023
3,061.250
2023
SIS - Corpus Christi - Accounting & Finance SIS - Corpus Christi - Field Service SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Flek Service
María Saucedo - 100845 Mario Silguero - 100868 Mark Loncon - 100734
2,731.870
2023
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production SIS - Richwood - Warehouse
1,585.080
2023 Operations Supervisor
Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production SIS - Le Porte - Warehouse
2,134.080
2023
2,165.720
2023 Control Valve Technician I
Shop Production
2024
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Fleid Service SIS - La Porte - Customer Service
Morgan Philips - 101980 Moses Garza - 101924
4,948,110
2024
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - Kilgore - Warehouse SIS - Richwood - Field Service SIS - La Porte - Warehouse SIS - La Porte - Shop Production
Nicole Bisner - 100298 Nos Diaz - 100887
4,358.710 1,003.070
2023 Field Service Technician - CV III 2023
Field Service
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - Kegore - Shop Management
Jorge Gomez - 100934 Jose Castillo - 101784
Shop Production
2023 Pressure Rellel Valve Technician !I 2023
2,498.720
2023 Control Valve Technician II
Shop Production
1,739.850
2023 Machinist ill
Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Warehouse
3,241.350
2025 Warehouse Coordinator I
Warehouse
SIS - La Porte - Warehouse SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Shop Management
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Management SIS - La Porte - Field Service SIS - Corpus Christi - Fieki Service
Field Service Field Service
1.913.600
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician ill
Shop Production
SIS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
3,893.540
SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production SIS - Richwood - Warehouse
Mauro Charles - 101600
PD.61529138.1
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production SIS - La Porte - Field Service SIS - La Porte - Field Service SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production SIS - Richwood - Fleld Service SIS - Port Arthur - Warehouse SIS - La Porte - Shop Production SIS - Richwood - Field Service
Shop Production Field Service
Jimmy Alegria - 102010
John Bolthouse - 100835 John Padgett - 101798 Johnny Boland - 100401
4,835.840

Case 2:25-cv-00108

SIS - Corpus Christi - Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Warehouse

SIS - Port Arthu: - Flekd Serice

SIS - La Porte - Shop Preduction

SIS - La Porte - Shop Management
SIS - La Porte - Shop reduction

SIS - Kigore - Shop Management

SIS - La Porta - Flak Senice

SIS - Kigote - Shop Production

SIS - Corpus Christi - Warehouse

SIS - La Porte - Warahouse

SIS - Port Arthu: - Shop Production
SiS - Port Arthur - Shop Production
SIS - La Ports - Field Service

SIS - Kigore - Shop Production

SIS - Port Asthur- Shop Production
SIS - La Porte - Fleld Serica

$18 - Richwood - Shop Production

SIS - Port Asthur- Customer Service
SIS - Richwood - Shop Production

SIS - Kilgore - Shop Producton

SIS - Part Arthur ~ Shop Production
SIS - La Porte Warehouse

SIS - Kigore ~- Shap Production

SIS - Port Arthur ~ Shep Production
SIS - Kilgore - Shop Production:

SIS - Migore - Shop Production

$15 ~ Port Arthur - Shop Management
SIS - La Porte - Shop Production

SIS - Port Asthur~ Shep Production
SIS - Kiigore - Shop Produttion

SIS - Corpus Christ - Shop Production
SIS - La Potte - Shop Production

SIS - Corpus Chiist - Shop Production
SIS - Kigore - Shop Production

SIS - La Porte - Flak Service

SIS - Port Asthur « Shop Production
SIS - Corpus Chifsti - Shop Production
SIS - Richwood - Customer Sarvica
SIS - Corpus Christi- Skop Production
SIS - La Porte - Shop Producten

SIS - La Porte ~ Warehouse

SIS - Richwood - Shop Production

SIS - Kilgore - Fle Serica

PD.61529138,1

Document 40

Quincey Landrath - 101843
Randy Soloya - 101966
Raymond Holloway - £01809
Reginald Ladd - 100975
Richard Perez - 101209
Robben Stevens - 100874
Robert Boyd - 100299
Robert Gass - 101904
Robert Eddington - 100318
Robert Hatfield - 101585
Rodney Winfotd - 102014
Roddie Johnson - 101450
Roman Haymon - 101938
Ronald Crookar - {01864
Ronald Duhon - 102806
Ruben Ponee - 191792
Scottie Landry - 102807
Sergio Lerma - 104871
Sheri Horn - 100332
Statfen Gicod - 108486
Staphen Bisnez - 100580
Stephen Smith - 100878
Stephen Ybarra - 102809
Steven Hamilton - 100027
Steven Hubert - 101223
Steven Les - 100467
Steven Lae - 100758
Staven Lovalace - 100214
Stavan Martinez ~ 101900
Stuart Joan - 100781
‘Fanner Leo - 101939

Ted Kvbala - 102806
Terrance McWilliams - 100880
Fhomas Clouse - 101552
Thomas DAugali - 101539
Thomas Harveil - 100665
‘Fimothy Rhodes - 101787
Fimothy Rincon - 108770
Tina Jordan - 104895
Trace Stratton - 101855
Walhedo Cruz - 101840
Mzaviar Brown - 101820
Zach Collins - 191807
Zachary English - 1620

Filed 04/29/26 in TXSD Page 20 of 20

2.541.690

100.430
4,184.54
1,339.520
2,259,280
1,530.80
2,379,520
4,047,780
1.851.600
3.460.160
1,983.18
2.428.970
1,580.80
3.373.140
4,263.280
1,978,000

714 450
1,015,040
5,711.640
1,522,080
1,943,790
3472220
1,008.200
4,149.740
2,654,950
4.824.470
2,895,200
5,272.760
6,822.400
2,548,000
1,081.800

758,180
1,460.560
2.031.740
1,t69.750
2.254.080
2,085.830
1,282.00
3.447.040
2.826.440
1,004,640
3,983.110
3.244.860
3.657.960

26023 Operations Lead

2023 Warehouse Manager

2023

2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician t
2023 Operations Manager

2023 Pressure Rellef Valve Technician Il
2023

2023

2023

2023 Werehouse Supervisor

2024

223 Machinist Il

2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician |
223 Flakt Service Technician - PRV It
2025 Control Valve Techiictan tl

2023 MA Technician it

2023 Fiald Service Technician - MOV IE
2023

2023

2023 Pressure Rellaf Valve Techniclan lil
2023 Pioducton Coordinator It

2023 Inside Salas Representative Ill - PP

Shop Production
Warehouse

Shop Production
Branch Manegement
Shop Production

Warehouse

Shop Production
Shon Production
Fiakd Service
Shop Production
Shop Production
Field Senice

Shop Production
8ranch Planning & Service Coordination
Inside Sales

2024 Warehouse Cocrdinatort Warehouse
2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician i Shop Preduction
2023

2023 Pressura Relief Valve Technician | Shop Preduction
2024 Pressure Rell Vaiva Technician j Shop Preduction
2023 Operations Supenisor Shop Production
2024 IA Techolcian Il! Shop Production
2023 Inspector Shop Production
2023

2023 Pressure Relief Vatve Technician t Shop Production
2023 Machinist fil Shop Production
2023

2023 Pressure Relief Valve Technician & Shop Production
2023

2023

2023

2025 © Service Specialist Ill Gi Service
2023

20923

2023

2024 Production Coordinator |
2023 Flekd Service Technician - PRVIE

Branch Pianning & Service Coordination
Field Service

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