American Plant Products to Pay $60K in Back Wages
Oklahoma City Greenhouse Supplier to Pay $60,000 in Back Wages After Federal Overtime Investigation
An Oklahoma City wholesale greenhouse supplier will pay $60,000 in back wages to 25 employees after a federal investigation found the company improperly classified its entire workforce as exempt from overtime requirements.
The American Plant Products overtime case centers on the agricultural exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA. Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division determined that American Plant Products & Services Inc. incorrectly treated all 25 employees as agricultural workers exempt from overtime.
The case highlights an important distinction under federal labor law: working for a company that serves farmers, growers and horticultural businesses does not automatically make an employee an agricultural worker for purposes of the FLSA.
American Plant Products Overtime Case Hinges on Agriculture Exemption
American Plant Products & Services Inc., located at 9200 NW 10th Street in Oklahoma City, is a wholesale business that provides commercial greenhouses, horticultural equipment, supplies and services to commercial growers, schools, universities, research facilities, retail garden centers and conservatories.
Federal investigators found the company classified all 25 employees as exempt from overtime under the FLSA's agriculture exemption. As a result, employees did not receive the required overtime premium when they worked more than 40 hours during a workweek.
Under federal law, however, the exemption depends on the work employees actually perform.
The Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act guidance for agricultural employment defines primary agriculture as activities including cultivating soil, growing and harvesting agricultural or horticultural commodities and raising livestock.
Federal regulations also recognize certain "secondary agriculture," but those activities generally must be performed by a farmer or on a farm and be incidental to or connected with the farming operation. Employment falling outside those categories is not considered agricultural employment for purposes of the exemption.
The DOL specifically identifies failure to pay overtime to workers whose jobs are related to agriculture but do not satisfy the federal definition as a common compliance problem.
That distinction became central to the American Plant Products overtime case. The company operates as a commercial supplier to agricultural and horticultural customers rather than as a production farm.
Federal Investigation Escalated to Oklahoma City Court Case
The Wage and Hour Division's investigation also led to federal court action earlier this year.
On April 2, 2026, U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma seeking enforcement of an administrative subpoena issued to American Plant Products and company president Rodd Moesel.
The petition sought enforcement of a subpoena duces tecum, a legal demand requiring the production of records or other evidence.
On May 6, Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti ordered the company and Moesel to show cause within 10 days of service as to why they should not be required to comply with the subpoena. That order was later vacated after the Labor Department moved to dismiss its enforcement petition, and the case was dismissed without prejudice on May 21.
The subsequent investigation found overtime violations along with problems involving required employment records and workplace notices. Investigators said American Plant Products failed to maintain accurate records of employees' hours worked and failed to display the required FLSA workplace poster.
The Department of Labor's FLSA agriculture compliance guidance explains that the federal law establishes minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and youth employment standards while providing specific exemptions for qualifying agricultural employment.
Those exemptions are based on federal requirements rather than simply the industry or customers associated with a business.
25 Oklahoma Workers Receive $60,000 in Back Wages
The Department of Labor ultimately recovered $60,000 in back wages for 25 American Plant Products employees. That works out to an average of approximately $2,400 per employee, although individual payments can vary based on each worker's unpaid overtime.
Under the FLSA, covered nonexempt employees are generally entitled to at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond 40 during a workweek.
Michael Speer, Wage and Hour Division district director in Oklahoma City, said the investigation demonstrates why employers need to determine carefully whether an exemption actually applies to their workers.
“Employers must carefully consider and understand the rules about exemptions to avoid costly violations that deny workers overtime pay,” Speer said.
Speer also encouraged employers to use federal compliance resources or contact the Wage and Hour Division when they have questions about whether workers qualify for exemptions.
The Labor Department's federal overtime guidance stresses that an employee's exemption status depends on whether applicable legal requirements are satisfied, rather than relying solely on a job title or broad classification.
For Oklahoma businesses connected to agriculture, horticulture and rural industries, the American Plant Products case provides a concrete example of where that distinction can matter.
A business can sell products and services directly to farmers and commercial growers without its employees necessarily performing agricultural work under the federal definition.
In the American Plant Products overtime case, federal investigators concluded that distinction entitled the company's workers to overtime compensation, resulting in $60,000 being recovered for 25 Oklahoma employees.
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