Justices OK overtime pay for $200,000-a-year oil rig worker

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled that an energy company employee who earned more than $200,000 a year still qualified for overtime pay under a federal law meant to protect blue-collar workers. By a 6-3 vote Wednesday, the justices sided with Michael Hewitt, who supervised 12 to 14 workers on an offshore oil rig. Hewitt was paid a minimum of $963 for any day he worked as part of an unusual schedule on the oil rig. Business groups had told the court that a ruling for Hewitt would encourage highly trained and well-paid workers to sue under a law meant to address substandard wages and dangerously long hours.