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On Wednesday, a Florida federal judge refused Pizza Hut of America Inc.’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit that accuses the pizza company of improperly collecting state sales tax on delivery fees.
This Pizza Hut class action lawsuit was originally filed on Dec. 9, 2014 by plaintiff Lauren Minniti and included three counts against Pizza Hut. The first count is an alleged violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUPTA), second is negligence, and the third count is unjust enrichment.
Minniti alleges that Pizza Hut collected state sales tax on delivery fees for items purchased through the company. According to the Pizza Hut class action lawsuit, Minniti ordered a pizza to be delivered to her home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and was charged tax on the $12 pizza plus the $2.75 delivery charge. She argues this practice is deceptive, unfair, negligent, and encourages unjust enrichment.
Minniti looks to represent all customers who were charged taxes on the delivery fees for food and beverages purchased from Pizza Hut restaurants.
Pizza Hut asserted in the motion to dismiss the delivery tax class action lawsuit that the plaintiff did not state a cause of action, and said that collecting tax on delivery charges was not deceptive, unfair, or misleading to customers.
Judge Tuter agreed that the plaintiff had adequately pleaded for the purposes of her claim. As for Pizza Hut’s other claims, the judge noted, “The determination of whether a complained of act or practice is unfair under FDUTPA requires a factual determination, which is outside the scope of this Court’s review when presented on a motion to dismiss.”
Pizza Hut said it was the customer’s responsibility to seek a refund from the state for overpaid taxes and that she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. Minniti argued that Florida’s Administrative Code affirms that if a taxpayer pays tax when none is due, the taxpayer should receive the refund from the business who overtaxed, not the state revenue department. This potentially puts the ball back in Pizza Hut’s court to rectify the situation.
In response to Pizza Hut’s other arguments to dismiss the claims from the class action lawsuit, Judge Tuter said that the plaintiff adequately pleaded a cause of action for negligence and agreed with the plaintiff that she had exhausted all her options to administratively remedy the situation.
In the court document denying Pizza Hut’s motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit, Judge Tuter added the following: “It should be noted the court is not passing on the merits of this class action in denying the motion to dismiss. Whether this class action can be certified in the future is a matter the court may have to resolve on dispotitive motions. Defendant Pizza Hut of America, Inc. shall file an answer to Plaintiff’s complaint within twenty (20) days of the date of this Order.”
Lauren Minniti is represented by Scott Owens and Patrick Crotty of of Scott D. Owens P.A. and Joseph Siprut and Ismael Salam of Siprut PC.
The Pizza Hut Class Action Lawsuit is Lauren Minniti v. Pizza Hut of America Inc., Case No. 14-023335 CACE (07), in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Florida.
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16 thoughts onPizza Hut Delivery Tax Class Action Lawsuit Moves Forward
I frequently order pizzas delivered and assumed that unless specified the delivery is free. That is why I give the delivery person a nice tip.
Cant eat pizza when you is dead lol
Im a frequent customer of Pizza Hut. And yes the delivery charges puts what I can pay higher than usual that I end up cancelling my order
Just like everyone else on this post, I order Pizza Hut pizzas all the time. Does this lawsuit pertain only to Florida residents or will it be nationwide?
Dominos and Papa Johns does the same thing. So are they all unjustly enriching their companies at the customers expense?????
Didn’t realize that was illegal, I did order from pizza hut a few times order ws over $20.00 because it had price of food plus tax plus delivery fee…I knew the price was high but I just didn’t know…wow
Where can I file a claim ? We order Pizza Hut Pizza all the time and pay extra fees.
We had Pizza Hut delivery at least once a week for the last 2 years. We don’t order because they stopped delivering on army base we live on last month. I was unaware of these fees charged and used to tip the delivery guy 5 bucks. So they were getting 7.75 on each delivery.. Wow!!!
Just paid $22 for a Alegre Deluxe Pizza from Pizza Hut on Saturday which included the pizza, tax and delivery dee. I thought it was excessive for a pizza with just 8 slices. We did have the stuffed crusts…but still $22.00???
Not Alegra. A LAEGE pizza. Correct: delivery FEE
ok I bought never paid attention to charges just paid
I FREQUENTLY ORDER FROM PIZZA HUT, BUT PAID ANY ATTENTION TO THE CHARGES.