Aug 11, 2018 2 min read

U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh has entered a consent judgment against Water Transfer Solutions LLC of Canonsburg and its president, Joseph Dugan, requiring the firm to pay $185,456 in back wages and damages to 82 current and former employees.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined the company violated overtime and recording-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Water Transfer Solutions, 1018 Second St., Canonsburg, provides manifold work, traffic control and water transfer services to businesses in the oil and gas industry in and around Washington County.

Employees included laborers assisting trucks that transfer water used in the fracking process.

According to a news release, Wage and Hour Division investigators found that from July 1 through Dec. 14 of last year, Water Transfer Solutions paid employees a day rate regardless of the number of hours they worked.

This resulted in overtime violations when employees worked more than 40 hours per week but did not receive time and a half. The company did not keep records of the number of hours employees worked.

John DuMont, Wage and Hour director in Pittsburgh, said the aim of enforcement is to protect employees but also to “ensure a level playing field for law-abiding employers.”

The agreement, supervised and signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell, splits the total between back wages and liquidated damages.

Dugan, the owner of the corporation, also services as vice president, according to court documents. Water Transfer Solutions is a corporation organized in Delaware.