Class Action Claims Papa John’s Operators Paid Delivery Drivers Less Than Minimum Wage

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A proposed class action has been filed against the company and individual who operate a group of Papa John’s franchise restaurants in Arizona, claiming the defendants paid their pizza delivery drivers less than minimum wage. The suit alleges that although delivery drivers are reimbursed for expenses they incur for the operation and maintenance of their vehicles, the method by which the defendants calculate how much drivers will be recouped is flawed to the extent that workers' minimum wage rates dip below what's allowable.

“However, instead of reimbursing delivery drivers for the reasonably approximate costs of the business use of their vehicles, Defendants use a flawed method to determine reimbursement rates that provides such an unreasonably low rate beneath any reasonable approximation of the expenses they incur that the drivers’ unreimbursed expenses cause their wages to fall below the federal minimum wage during some or all workweeks,” the complaint reads.

According to the suit, the plaintiff’s reimbursement rate during his employment with the defendants fell between $.20 and $.30 per mile, while the IRS business mileage rate during the same period ranged from $.535 to $.575 per mile. The case argues that delivery drivers were already being paid at or close to the federal minimum wage, so their allegedly unreimbursed business expenses, when subtracted from their pay, caused their wages to fall below the federally mandated minimum.