Date: 07-03-2025

Case Style: Randy Luna v. Tug Hill Operatings, LLC

Case Number: 23-CV-361

Judge: John Preston Bailey

Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (Kanawha County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Richard Burch and Tony Majestro

Defendant's Attorney: Chistian Antkowiak

Description: Charleston, West Virginia employment law lawyers represented the Plaintiff on a breach of contract theory.

Luna’s relationship with Gryphon was documented in an Independent Contractor Agreement between The Texan and Gryphon. The Agreement explained in its opening paragraph that it was “entered into . . . between GryphonESP, LLC (the ‘Company’) and The Texan LLC (‘Contractor’).” J.A. 31. It then provided that “Company [defined earlieras Gryphon] is placing Contractor [defined earlier as The Texan] with an operator client of Company.” J.A. 32. The Agreement also stated that “any and all legal claims . . . that Contractor may have against the Company, its parents, subsidiaries, successors or affiliates
or clients or one of its employees or agents, arising out of or related to this Agreement . . . will be decided by a single arbitrator through the American Arbitration Association in Harris County, Texas through final and binding arbitration only.” J.A. 40–41. And those claims included “individual worker disputes regarding payment of compensation, hours of work, expense reimbursement, absences, harassment, discrimination, retaliation and termination . . . relating to work performed by Contractor.”

The district court agreed, holding that Tug Hill could not use an arbitration provision or a forum selection clause in a contract with Luna’s LLC to dismiss or transfer a suit he brought individually.

Outcome: Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: