Delivery driver claims

Yes. If you used your own car and the reimbursement did not cover your actual vehicle costs, that shortfall can drop your effective pay below the minimum wage or overtime rate — a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and often state wage laws. A practical starting point: if you were paid less than the IRS Standard Business Mileage Rate for the miles you drove, talk to a lawyer.

Courts have come to different conclusions. Under Hatmaker and the Department of Labor’s enforcement guidance, an employer who requires drivers to use their own cars generally must either track and reimburse actual vehicle expenses or pay the IRS Standard Business Mileage Rate. That is the theory we won — not a nationwide safe harbor that every court has adopted. In West v. Bam!, the court held that companies must reimburse actual expenses. If they didn’t keep records, the IRS rate may be used to measure the under-reimbursement. Other courts have held that employers only need to “approximate” expenses. The only federal circuit court to examine that question (Parker v. Battle Creek) held that employers must reimburse actual vehicle expenses, and could not approximate expenses for reimbursements. Many companies still pay a flat amount or a low per-mile rate that falls short of either standard. We successfully argued Hatmaker, West, and Parker.

It is the cents-per-mile figure the IRS publishes each year to estimate the real cost of running a car — fuel, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation. The rate is useful evidence of under-reimbursement when an employer did not track actual expenses. It is not a nationwide safe harbor that lets a company skip actual costs. The rate changes. If your reimbursement is below the current IRS rate or fails to cover your actual costs, you should talk to a lawyer.

If you used your own car and your reimbursement was less than the IRS Standard Business Mileage Rate for the miles you drove, you should talk to a lawyer. The analysis is more nuanced than a single number, but that is a practical starting point. Common facts include a flat per-delivery payment, a low per-mile rate, or no reimbursement. You may also have unpaid overtime or other wage issues.

Hire a wage-and-hour firm that actually litigates pizza-franchise reimbursement cases. Biller & Kimble is a Cincinnati- and Columbus-based plaintiffs firm, which has handled delivery driver cases throughout the country. In Mullins, Judge Susan Dlott wrote that the lawyers had “established an expertise in pizza delivery driver litigation.” In McConnell v. EUBA, Judge Walter Rice noted that defense counsel called the firm the “gold standard” in pizza delivery litigation, and agreed the firm has “proven themselves to be highly skilled advocates for pizza delivery drivers and other workers.” Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

It is a case for a group of drivers who were under-reimbursed under the same policy — often at one franchisee’s stores, sometimes in more than one state. Many of these cases proceed as FLSA collective actions, which workers join by opting in, and as class actions where state law allows. The usual claim is that a flat or low mileage payment left drivers below minimum wage. Featured examples include Pizza Hut and Papa John’s franchise cases.

Featured recoveries include $9.25 million for Pizza Hut franchise drivers in Brown v. MUY and Stotesbery v. MUY, $9 million for Papa John’s franchise drivers in Gutzky v. Bajco (Cuyahoga C.P. No. CV-23-984423), and $3.25 million in Hatmaker v. PJ Ohio. As of August 24, 2026, Biller & Kimble has recovered more than $66 million firmwide. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

No. We handle these cases on a contingent-fee basis — no fee unless we recover. In most wage-and-hour cases the law also allows us to recover our fees from the employer, which makes it possible to take both large collective actions and smaller individual claims. The review is free and there is no obligation. Call (513) 202-0710.

Sometimes. Most claims are against the franchisee that employed you, not the national brand, and they proceed as collective or class cases for drivers at that franchise. Whether you can join depends on where you worked, when you drove, and whether a case is already pending. If your reimbursement was below the IRS rate, tell us what happened and we can say whether there is an existing case or a new claim.

Not under the rule we won. In Parker v. Battle Creek Pizza, the only federal circuit court to decide the question held that employers must reimburse actual vehicle expenses and could not approximate those reimbursements. West v. Bam! reached the same conclusion: actual expenses, and if the company kept no records the IRS rate may measure the shortfall. That is not a nationwide safe harbor. Many companies still pay a flat or low per-mile rate.

You might. Most companies pay something — a flat amount, a low per-mile rate, or a small per-delivery payment — but it almost never covers the real cost of ownership, fuel, maintenance, insurance, and wear. If that payment is below the IRS rate or fails to cover your actual costs, the difference can still be illegal. Paying some reimbursement is not enough if it is not the real cost.