Lawsuit Claims Alabama Domino’s Operator Owes Drivers for Unreimbursed Business Expenses

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The operators of a number of Domino’s franchise stores in Alabama have failed to properly reimburse drivers for delivery-related expenses, a proposed collective action claims.

Per the 11-page case, defendant Mountain Valley Pizza, LLC and its owner have used a “flawed method” to determine reimbursement rates for gasoline, vehicle parts and fluid, repair and maintenance costs, insurance, depreciation and other expenses delivery drivers incur in the course of operating their own vehicles for Domino’s benefit.

The lawsuit claims the defendants’ reimbursement rates fall beneath “any reasonable approximation” of drivers’ expenses such that the alleged unreimbursed expenses caused the workers’ wages to fall below the minimum rate “during some or all workweeks.”

“The net effect of Defendants’ flawed reimbursement policy is that Defendants have willfully failed to pay the federal minimum wage to their delivery drivers,” the complaint claims. “Defendants thereby enjoy ill-gained profits at the expense of their employees.”

The lawsuit out of Alabama says the defendants require pizza delivery drivers to maintain and pay for safe, legally operable, insured automobiles to deliver pizza and other food items from Domino’s restaurants. To purportedly cover expenses associated with driving and maintaining the vehicles, the defendants reimburse drivers on a per-mile basis, the case states. According to the suit, however, the defendants’ reimbursement rates fall well below the standard IRS business mileage reimbursement rates “or any other reasonable approximation” of the cost to own and operate an automobile.

Per the case, the IRS business mileage rate, which represents “a reasonable approximation of the average cost of owning and operating a vehicle for business use,” ranged between $0.535 and $0.58 per mile during the time period covered by the lawsuit. The driving conditions associated with pizza delivery, however, cause “even more frequent maintenance costs, higher costs due to repairs associated with driving, and more rapid depreciation from driving” than the average driver, not to mention lower gas mileage and higher repair costs, given the nature of the business requires frequent stopping and starting, frequent braking, short routes and driving under time pressures, the suit alleges.

“In sum, Defendants’ reimbursement policy fails to reflect the realities of delivery drivers’ automobile expenses,” the complaint attests.

According to the case, the defendants’ reimbursement method fails to recoup delivery drivers “for even their ongoing out-of-pocket expenses, much less other costs they incur to own and operate their vehicle.” Per the suit, the reimbursement policy results in the defendants receiving a “kickback” in that delivery drivers are not paid “free and clear of all outstanding obligations” to their employer.

The plaintiff, who worked as a delivery driver for the defendants’ Guntersville, Alabama Domino’s between April and August 2019, says he was reimbursed just $0.26 per mile, and drove an average of 14 miles round trip per delivery.

Using a conservative estimate of the plaintiff’s business expenses, the lawsuit estimates he received a net hourly wage of -$2.50 due to his unreimbursed expenses.

Per the case, all of the defendants’ delivery drivers had similar experiences to the plaintiff. Because drivers were paid less than the federal minimum wage and incurred unreimbursed expenses, the drivers “kicked back” to the defendants amounts sufficient to cause minimum wage violations, the lawsuit contests.

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