On Tuesday, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Domino’s Pizza, the world’s second largest pizzeria chain, claiming the company failed to pay its employees in accordance with the law. The lawsuit alleges that pizza makers and pizza delivery drivers were underpaid in several New York franchise stores. With well over 12,000 store locations around the world, franchised stores make up about 97% of all locations. Even though the majority of these locations are franchises, it has been argued that Domino’s imposes its company policies, procedures and regulations and should be considered a joint employer of these affected workers. Furthermore, the lawsuit also alleges that Domino’s deceived franchise owners by forcing them to implement policies that violated state law.
Specifically, Domino’s is accused of violating the New York Labor Law (NYLL) by paying its workers less than minimum wage for all hours worked. They also failed to pay workers their overtime hours when working over 40 hours per week. Another violation that was seen across the board was the failure to completely reimburse workers for costs incurred by pizza delivery workers during use of their motor vehicle or bicycles. The lawsuit seeks to recover owed wages, identify corporate Domino’s as a joint employer of the franchise locations, holding them liable along with individual franchisees, and finally, the workers are seeking a way to make sure the company complies with the law going forward. The New York Attorney General is setting the stage for groundbreaking progress as he pushes to hold this parent company liable for a franchisee breaking the law.
Recently, many big name fast food chain restaurants, such as McDonald’s and Papa John’s, have been accused of improperly underpaying its low-wage workers. If you or anyone you know works at a chain restaurant and has concerns about being paid correctly, do not hesitate to call an employment lawyer. The employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer are strongly committed to protecting the rights of hard working employees. Please give us a call at 212-300-0375 for a free phone consultation or visit our website www.fslawfirm.com for more information.