Domino’s Pizza franchise owner, Island Pizza, Inc. is the Defendant in a recently filed class action. The law offices of Zakay Law Group, APC and the JCL Law Firm, APC filed the complaint on August 13, 2019 in the Contra Costa County Superior Court. The Complaint names Island Pizza, Inc. and Barrett Business Services, Inc. (“BBSI”) as Defendants. BBSI is a staffing company who staffed employees for Island Pizza.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a former employee of Island Pizza and BBSI, who worked for the Domino’s Pizza franchise Since January of 2019. According to the Complaint, Island Pizza and BBSI were the joint-employers of the Plaintiff and the class. The Plaintiff is seeking to represent herself, as well as a class of all other non-exempt hourly employees who worked for the Defendants since August of 2015.
The employment class action currently includes 6 different claims, including (1) failure to pay minimum wages, (2) failure to provide California compliant meal breaks, (3) failure to provide California compliant rest breaks, (4) failure to provide accurate pay statements, (5) failure to reimburse employees for work-related expenses, and (6) unfair business practices.
Among the other claims, the lawsuit focuses on three main claims: First, the class action contends that the Domino’s Pizza franchisee did not provide the Plaintiff and other similarly situated employees with timely meal breaks within the first 5 hours of their shift. Next, the lawsuit argues that Domino’s Pizza similarly did not provide Plaintiff and other similarly situated employees with timely rest breaks, completely duty-free, ever 3.5 hours of their shift. Finally, the action alleges that the Defendants did not properly reimburse Plaintiff and other employees for work-related expenses. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Defendants paid its delivery drivers a flat fee of $1.50 per delivery for mileage and gas reimbursement, instead of paying the delivery drivers the legally mandated federal rate for mileage reimbursement. This, according to the lawsuit, resulted in significant underpayment to the Plaintiff and her co-workers. Additionally, the complaint claims that delivery drivers were regularly required to use their personal cell phones to contact customers, but were never reimbursed by the Defendants, as required by California employment laws.
The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages for the unpaid wages, as well as for the unpaid missed meal and rest break premiums. It also seeks monetary reimbursement for the mileage and cell phones. Furthermore, the action seeks monetary penalties for the inaccurate wage statements provided to the Domino’s Pizza employees, which resulted from the underpayment of wages and premiums. Finally, the lawsuit asks the Court to issue an order compelling Island Pizza and BBSI to bring their employment practices into compliance with the California labor code.
If you work for a Domino’s Pizza franchise and believe you are not properly reimbursed for your expenses, please contact our California employment attorney for a free legal consultation.