Dameon Hale filed suit in March 2025 alleging that K.T.G. USA, Inc. and related defendants failed to pay overtime to him and similarly situated workers at a shipping yard in Southaven, Mississippi. Hale, who worked as a yard driver from approximately April 2023 to November 2024, claims his primary duties involved organizing tractor trailers within the space of the yard and ensuring that semi-trailer truckers and trailers were in a position for unloading, loading, and transport. He alleges he worked up to 80 hours per week, seven days a week, without receiving overtime at one-and-a-half times his regular rate for hours beyond 40 per week, and contends he is owed in excess of $60,000 in unpaid overtime wages plus liquidated and punitive damages.
The certified collective covers all current and former hourly employees of Robert L. Ruth, Jr. d/b/a RBT Transportation who performed yard operations — including moving, positioning, staging, or shunting trailers or equipment — at the Southaven, Mississippi or Memphis, Tennessee locations at any time from March 14, 2022, through final disposition of the matter.
Defendants did not oppose certification on the merits but argued the court should grant only conditional certification subject to a later decertification motion after formal discovery. Judge Michael P. Mills rejected that framing outright, holding that it rests on the now-abandoned Lusardi two-step framework. The court relied on Swales v. KLLM Transport Services, L.L.C., 985 F.3d 430 (5th Cir. 2021), for the proposition that courts in the Fifth Circuit must now rigorously scrutinize the realm of similarly situated workers from the outset of the case, and that if assessing liability would require a highly individualized inquiry into each potential opt-in's circumstances, certification must be denied.
Applying the factors the Fifth Circuit identified in Loy v. Rehab Synergies, L.L.C., 71 F.4th 329 (5th Cir. 2023) — the factual and employment settings of the prospective plaintiffs, the defenses available to defendants and whether any are individualized, and fairness and procedural considerations — the court found certification warranted. On the defense side, the court noted that defendants had applied the Motor Carrier Act exemption categorically to yard-based operational employees, presenting a common legal defense appropriate for collective resolution rather than individualized inquiry.
On contact information, the court ordered defendants to produce names, addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers of putative collective members within 14 days. The court granted in part and denied in part Hale's request for social security numbers. Under the court's order, Hale may seek only the last four digits of social security numbers, and only by filing a motion to compel if he is unable to locate members of the prospective class using the other contact information provided — not as an automatic disclosure upon undeliverable mail. The parties have 28 days to meet and confer and submit proposed notice and consent forms.