Domino’s Pizza Drivers recently achieved Court approval for a massive settlement for more than 750 delivery drivers impacted by a pizza franchise’s under-reimbursement policies.  The Dominos pizza driver lawsuit states a common complaint among drivers in the industry – that systematic under-reimbursement for mileage and vehicle expenses violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Michigan Minimum Wage laws.  The defendant, STA, once boasted to be one of the ten largest Domino’s Pizza Franchises in the Country.  At one time, STA had over 50 Domino’s locations throughout Michigan and Indiana. According to the Complaint, STA allegedly reimbursed drivers $0.25 per mile or less, while the IRS calculated the cost of driving to be more than $0.50 per mile (currently calculated at more than $0.62 per mile). Plaintiffs alleged STA’s reimbursement scheme violated federal and state minimum wage law. Impacted drivers were sent notice, and more than 750 delivery drivers opted-in, to recover the true cost of driving pizza delivery.

How are FLSA settlement payments made?

Under the Settlement Agreement, all eligible drivers who opted in to the lawsuit will receive settlement awards to compensate for under-reimbursed vehicle expenses that sent their actual wage plummeting well below the lawful minimum wage.  Some eligible collective members will receive hundreds or even thousands of dollars to reimburse for unpaid expenses.  Under the court approved settlement, all payments to collective members are proportionate based on the number of miles driven by the class members.

What if I did not receive notice?  Will I still get a settlement check?

No. Only the people that returned forms to participate in the FLSA lawsuit will receive settlement payments. Notice was sent to the best available address for about 6,000 eligible potential collective members.  About 750 of the eligible people who received notice chose to opt-in to the class action.  The settlement provides recovery for those people.  If you did not opt-in, then you are not part of the settlement and none of your potential claims are impacted.  Those that did opt-in are being contacted regarding their settlement distribution.  If you believe you should have receive the notice but did not, you can contact counsel by clicking here.

How do I find more information about my FLSA rights?

Blanchard & Walker has a record of achieving remarkable results for Michigan workers in FLSA cases for minimum wage and overtime violations under the FLSA and Michigan wage laws. Common wage fraud schemes include:

• failing to reimburse expenses for minimum wage workers
• misclassifying non-exempt workers as “overtime exempt” or salaried
• using “independent contractor” contracts to mislabel employees
• depriving “day-rate”  or “job-rate” workers of overtime pay
• Failing to pay for all working time and working off the clock

For questions regarding the content of this post, you can contact the authors at Blanchard & Walker PLLC.