Papa John’s Delivery Drivers File Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit

The pizza chain, Papa John’s, popular for its delivery service is under fire this month as a delivery driver filed a proposed wage and hour class action lawsuit against the company.

This wage and hour class action lawsuit alleges the franchise chain shorted the plaintiff and other drivers on mileage reimbursements.

Plaintiff Ricardo Jimenez, of Miami, sued Pizzerias LLC for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Pizzerias LLC owns and operates 31 Papa John’s Pizzas across Florida.

The wage and hour class action lawsuit also accuses the franchise chain of violating the Florida minimum wage act.

The FLSA was passed into law by the U.S. Congress to guarantee employees receive fair wages and are proper compensation for all hours worked. These labor laws were also established with the expressed goal to protect workers from potential danger, exploitation, and abuse by employers.

Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit

Jimenez’s lawsuit claims that the chain reimbursed himself and other drivers at less than half of what the IRS business mileage reimbursement rate is. Jimenez claims that this isn’t enough to cover their costs which reduces their net pay to below minimum wage.

The wage and hour class action lawsuit alleges, “Instead of reimbursing its delivery drivers for the reasonably approximate costs of the business use of their vehicles, defendant uses a flawed method to determine reimbursement rates.”

It goes on to claim that those rates “provide such an unreasonably low rate beneath any reasonable approximation of the expenses they incur that the drivers’ unreimbursed expenses cause their net wages to fall below the federal and Florida minimum wages during some or all workweeks.”

This is only one of dozens of such wage and hour lawsuits that have been filed against different pizzerias by delivery drivers. These represent thousands of delivery drivers who claim the same shortages as Jimenez.

One attorney that is representing Jimenez in this wage and hour class action lawsuit states that this practice is common among pizza companies. They often ignore the IRS business mileage reimbursement rate.

He says, “The industry standard is unreasonable reimbursement. The pizza companies just don’t pay attention to the IRS rate. Somehow they justify rates around 20 cents a mile, at best somewhere around 30 cents a mile.”

Jimenez’s wage and hour class action lawsuit covers drivers who operated while using their own vehicles during the past 5 years. During that time the IRS reimbursement rate was between $0.54 and $0.575 per mile.

Jimenez only received $0.255 per mile driven while delivering pizzas, according to his claim.

Every time Jimenez delivered pizzas, he averaged about 4. 5 miles driven. If each trip earned him $1.15 in mileage and if he drove around 2 trips per hour, he was shorted about $2.56 per hour. The complaint claims that Jimenez’s wages fell short of $7.25, Florida’s minimum wage.

The wage and hour class action lawsuit says that because the pizza franchise “paid its delivery drivers a gross hourly wage very close to the applicable minimum wage, and because the delivery drivers incurred unreimbursed automobile expenses, the delivery drivers ‘kicked back’ to [the] defendant an amount sufficient to cause minimum wage violations.”

Jimenez is asking for damages equal to the difference between what he was paid and what he should have been paid as well as fees and other costs.

The Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Ricardo Jimenez v. Pizzerias LLC, Case No. 1:16-cv-22045, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Join a Free Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Now