NY AG Files Wage and Hour Suit Against Domino’s

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed suit in New York Supreme Court last week, accusing Domino’s Pizza, Inc. and three of its New York franchisees of wage and hour violations against delivery drivers.

Domino’s has allegedly violated minimum wage laws and skirted overtime pay from July 2008 to present. While some of the issue is due to a glitch in the company’s payroll software, the company supposedly discovered the problem in May 2010 and did nothing about it.

Domino’s runs its own payroll software called PULSE, which according to the wage and hour lawsuit was under-reporting wages and tips for years. Domino’s did not inform its franchisees of the problem, leading to some of the alleged wage and hour violations.

The complaint states “Domino’s failure to remedy the flaws in PULSE or to disclose them to franchisees directly harmed the underpaid works in New York and its New York franchisees.”

In 2012, the New York Attorney General’s Office began investigating Domino’s for wage and hour violations after complaints that the pizza restaurant was not paying minimum wage or overtime pay.

Franchisees Failed Their Drivers

The complaint claims that the three franchisees who own 10 New York stores owe their workers a minimum of $567,000. Employees were allegedly not paid minimum wage, and drivers had to pay their own car or bicycle maintenance as well as gas.

Two franchise owners allegedly claimed a tip credit without ever verifying that their drivers made enough money in tips to qualify for the credit.

Why is Domino’s Liable?

Domino’s is considered a responsible joint employer because it was involved with hiring, firing and scheduling at each store. Domino’s argues that franchises are “solely responsible for the hiring, firing and payment of their own employees.”

According to the wage and hour lawsuit, Domino’s strongly encouraged its franchisees to use its PULSE payroll system, but neglected to tell franchisees the program was miscalculating wages and failed to fix issues in PULSE, leading to years of wage and hour mistakes.

“The Pulse system which Domino’s required all franchises to use systematically undercalculates workers’ wages,” Schneiderman says. “This is widespread, systemic illegality, and it victimizes some of the most vulnerable workers in our state.”

This latest lawsuit is one of many that the New York Attorney General’s office has seen fit to file against Domino’s.

“We’re standing up for the rights of the small business owners against the parent corporation that really disregarded their rights and we’re going to pursue this to the full extent of the law and this really puts other parent corporations on notice. You’re not going to evade liability,” Schneiderman said.

Five franchisees paid $970,000 in April 2015 for labor law violations, including underpaying for overtime or not compensating for overtime pay at all.

Six Domino’s franchisees paid $448,000 to settle wage and hour violations back in March 2014.

Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuits

In April 2016, a worker accused Domino’s of making him work off the clock and of not giving him the overtime pay due to him. He filed a proposed class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York accusing Domino’s of labor law violations.

If you have not been properly compensated for your work, you could be eligible to participate in a wage and hour class action lawsuit.

The Domino’s Wage and Hour Lawsuit is Schneiderman v. Domino’s Pizza, filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York (Manhattan).

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.

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