$1.28 Million Awarded to Domino’s Delivery Workers
After three years of litigation, the delivery workers at Domino’s Pizza shop (“Domino’s”) were awarded $1.28 million to settle their lawsuit for unpaid wages. The delivery workers filed a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act alleging their employer, Domino’s, failed to pay them the proper minimum wage rate, overtime pay, and uniform maintenance pay. The $1.28 million settlement will be distributed to 61 workers (awards will range from $61,300 to $400 per delivery person depending on how long each worked) to settle their claims.
Delivery workers were paid the tipped minimum wage rate of $5.65 instead of being paid the full minimum wage rate of $7.25. Delivery workers alleged they should have been paid the full minimum wage rate because their employer failed to properly notify them of the tip credit and required delivery workers to perform non-tipped duties such as, cleaning the ovens and floors and distributing Domino’s Pizza fliers. Furthermore, delivery workers would not be paid for all the hours they worked. For instance, the named plaintiff stated he would work around 65 hours per week, but would only be paid for 45 hours. Finally, Domino’s failed to provide a weekly uniform maintenance allowance and failed to keep proper records of hours worked by delivery workers.
Wage violations are commonly found in the restaurant industry. If you work or have worked for a restaurant or caterer within the past 6 years, in either a tipped or non-tipped position, call the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, (212) 300-0375, to schedule a free consultation to discuss you rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law.