Class Action Blog : Consumer Fraud, Consumer Protection, Securities and Antitrust Lawyer & Attorney : Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz

Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C. is currently investigating potential class action lawsuits on behalf of delivery drivers for Quiznos, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and other restaurants or businesses. Under federal and state law, delivery drivers must be properly compensated for gas and wear and tear on their vehicles. This compensation must be high enough above the minimum wage to fully offset expenses. A federal court has held that fair compensation for wear and tear may be an extra $4.20 per hour, meaning that many tipped delivery drivers must be paid a total of at least $6.33 per hour and – in some circumstances – over $12 an hour.

However, many restaurants do not fully compensate their drivers, in violation of the law. For example, Pizza Hut may only be paying delivery drivers in some large, metropolitan areas $4.25 an hour, and many other restaurants – including Quiznos – may also be in violation of the minimum wage laws. Delivery drivers who are underpaid may be entitled to back-pay for the time they were underpaid, higher wages going forward, and other damages.

If you, or someone you know, served as a delivery driver for Quiznos, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns or another restaurant or business, you may have been denied fair wages. Please contact us as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.
 

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Employees who are paid by the hour, particularly low wage workers, are often cheated by their employers.  Hourly workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than minimum wage according to a newly released study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

In surveying 4,387 workers in various industries, including child care, retail and apparel manufacturing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, which translates into an average loss of 15% in pay.  According to the New York Times, the study -- the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade -- also found that 68% of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous week.  Moreover, the study found that 26% of the workers surveyed had been paid less than the minimum wage, that 1 in 7 had worked off the clock, and that 76% of those that worked overtime were not paid their proper overtime compensation.

Annette Bernhardt, an author of the study and policy co-director of the National Employment Law Project, stated that, “When unscrupulous employers break the law, they’re robbing families of money to put food on the table, they’re robbing communities of spending power and they’re robbing governments of vital tax revenues.”

This study comes only ten months after a federal judge in Manhattan awarded $4.6 million in back pay and damages to 36 deliverymen at two Saigon Grill restaurants for violating state and federal minimum wage and overtime laws. In those cases, the Chinese immigrants were required to work 11 to 13 hours a day, six days a week, without proper compensation for overtime. Even more egregious, the company would take illegal deductions out of their salaries for various “infractions,” such as allowing the restaurant door to slam or for failing to log a delivery.

If you believe that you’ve been underpaid by your employer, or that your pay was improperly “docked” by your employer based upon alleged infractions of company policy, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

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