Domino’s Pizza Employees File Driver Tip Class Action Lawsuit

A group of Domino’s Pizza drivers has filed a driver tip class action lawsuit.

Franchisee GDS Enterprises Inc. is accused of keeping a delivery surcharge that most customers would have thought was a tip, violating Massachusetts state law.

Driver Tip Class Action Lawsuit

Massachusetts law states that employers are allowed to keep a delivery surcharge only if customers are aware the charge is NOT a tip.

If there is no such disclosure, the money is supposed to belong to the workers.

Drivers said in depositions that they had told some customers that delivery charges were not tips.

However, Massachusetts law says it is the employer’s responsibility to notify customers whether a delivery fee stays with the driver or goes to the company. The conveyance of that fact is not up to the employees, said the drivers’ attorney.

Domino’s insists that customers knew the delivery fee was not a tip because the fact was stated on pizza boxes, on Domino’s website and on its mobile app.

The Massachusetts Domino’s store location that is the focus of this driver tip class action lawsuit eventually posted a sign in the restaurant to remind employees to tell customers the delivery charges were not tips.

The driver tip class action lawsuit also says that according to state law, workers are entitled to minimum wage, and not just the tipped minimum wage, if any part of a tip is garnished.

Former Domino’s driver Alexander M. filed the driver tip class action lawsuit. He claims he was assigned tasks other than delivering food, which he completed while still being paid the tipped minimum wage, which was lower than the minimum wage for other store workers.

Domino’s argues that if the work the driver was asked to do supported their tipped job, such as folding delivery boxes, then that action could still fall under the tipped wage umbrella.

Domino’s Attempts to Get Case Tossed

Domino’s made an attempt last week to have the driver tip class action lawsuit dismissed, but the judge reserved his decision.

Domino’s claimed that employee/customer conversations should be considered as part the company’s transparency regarding delivery fees, even though the law says it is Domino’s responsibility to make that clear.

Domino’s also argued that there is not enough commonality for class certification in this driver tip class action lawsuit. Their basis is that it is difficult to know the variety of tasks each driver would have possibly been asked to do inside the store and for what period of time.

The plaintiff’s attorney countered that because there is a common system for clocking in and out of a delivery, proving when a driver left and returned to the store, this situation is appropriate for a class action complaint.

The Domino’s Driver Tip Class Action Lawsuit is Mooney, et. al. v. Domino’s Pizza, Inc., et. al., Case Number 1:14-cv-13723 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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