Updated: Sep 11, 2020
On September 23, 2019, a federal district court denied Domino’s Pizza’s request to dismiss a proposed nationwide unpaid minimum wage lawsuit filed against them by their delivery drivers.
The Domino’s delivery drivers claim that Domino’s broke the law because Domino’s underpaid the drivers for automobile expenses. According to the drivers, federal law requires Domino’s to either keep track of and reimburse for the drivers’ actual expenses, or reimburse the drivers using the IRS standard business mileage rate, which is currently $.58 per mile.
The drivers claim that Domino’s and its franchise operators have failed to meet this standard. Because of the underpayment, the drivers claim that their effective wages dropped below minimum wage. Instead of using the IRS rate, the drivers claim that Domino’s reimburses a set, flat amount per delivery, or uses a per-mile reimbursement rate that falls far short of the IRS rate.
Domino’s recently filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the case against them, and to strike the class allegations related to them. On September 23, 2019, the court refused Domino’s’ request almost entirely (the court did dismiss the drivers’ claim for injunctive relief).
Read the court’s full opinion here: Clark v Pizza Baker, LLC
The drivers’ case will now go forward. At the next step, the drivers will seek to show that Domino’s delivery drivers around the country are “similarly situated.”
Are you a delivery driver paid near minimum wage, but receiving less than the IRS standard business mileage rate as delivery reimbursements? If so, we are interested in hearing from you.