Forum
U.S. Supreme Court
Case Status
Docket Number
Term
2018 Term
Oral Argument Date
April 16, 2019
Lower Court Opinion
Questions Presented
Whether, under OCSLA, state law is borrowed as the applicable federal law only when there is a gap in the coverage of federal law, as the Fifth Circuit has held, or whenever state law pertains to the subject matter of a lawsuit and is not preempted by inconsistent federal law, as the Ninth Circuit has held.
Case Updates
Supreme Court unanimously agrees with U.S. Chamber that state wage-and-hour laws don’t apply to drilling rigs on the outer continental shelf
June 10, 2019
The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit’s determination that California’s wage-and-hour laws applied to offshore oil-and-gas drilling on the outer continental shelf. The decision provides certainty for all offshore oil-and-gas operations on the outer continental shelf that state wage-and-hour law will not apply to those operations. This is particularly significant for offshore oil-and-gas operations in the Pacific Ocean, as California wage-and-hour law is particularly favorable for the plaintiffs’ bar.
The Chamber filed an amicus brief at the cert. stage, urging the Court to take up this case, and another brief at the merits stage supporting this outcome.
U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to reverse Ninth Circuit opinion applying California's wage-and-hour laws to offshore drilling operations subject to OCSLA
February 27, 2019
Click here to view the Chamber’s amicus brief.
Hyland Hunt of Deutsch Hunt PLLC served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.
Cert. petition granted
January 11, 2019
U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to grant cert. to review Ninth Circuit decision applying California’s wage-and-hour laws to offshore drilling operations subject to OCSLA
October 26, 2018
Click here to view the Chamber’s amicus brief. Hyland Hunt and Ruthanne M. Deutsch of Deutsch Hunt PLLC served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.
Case Documents
- Lower Court Orders-Opinions -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Cert. Petition -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Appendix -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- U.S. Chamber Amicus Brief -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Washington Legal Foundation Amicus Brief -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas et al. Amicus Brief -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- U.S. Chamber Merits Amicus Brief -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Transcript of Oral Argument -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Opinion -- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf