In Velarde v. Major Drilling America Inc., No. 2:26-cv-00138 (D. Utah), Judge Barlow recently partially denied Major Drilling's move to dismiss Velarde's collective and state-based wage action. The court dismissed Velarde’s Minnesota state-law wage claims and pay-rate portions of the FLSA, but allowed his FLSA overtime claims to proceed based on allegations that Major Drilling failed to pay all overtime hours worked.

Notably, the court followed the approach adopted by other judges in the District of Utah when pleading FLSA overtime claims. The Court held that, “a complaint need not specify either the dates on which the plaintiff worked over forty hours per week, or the number of hours worked over forty.” Applying that standard, Velarde’s allegations that he was required to perform pre-shift, off-the-clock work that was integral and indispensable to his duties, resulting in unpaid overtime, survived dismissal.

While this pleading standard differs from the approach taken in some other circuits, it is gaining traction in Utah and aligns with decisions in other districts within the Tenth Circuit.

You can read the full opinion here.