Pat’s Select Pizza Facing Wage and Hour Suit Filed by Delivery Drivers, Cook

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A proposed class and collective action has been filed against the companies and individuals who operate Pat’s Select Pizza/Grill locations across Maryland and Pennsylvania. The suit, filed by two former delivery drivers and a current cook, takes issue with the defendants’ pay practices, arguing that employees were not paid minimum and overtime wages in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The delivery driver plaintiffs claim they were paid pursuant to a tip credit despite the defendants’ alleged failure to meet the FLSA’s tip credit requirements. Specifically, the case argues that delivery drivers were required to spend portions of their time performing non-tipped duties unrelated to their delivery work and were never informed that the defendants were applying a tip credit to their wages.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs allege that they were required to use their own vehicles and cell phones to perform their delivery duties without proper reimbursement. The defendants supposedly paid drivers between $.50 and $1.50 per delivery as a “mileage reimbursement” – a sum that fell well below their actual expenses incurred and didn’t cover cell phone use. On top of that, the plaintiffs claim the defendants required them to wear uniform shirts but only paid for the cost of the first shirt, leaving employees to bear the cost of dry cleaning and purchasing any additional shirts. The case argues that these alleged underpayments, on top of the possible tip credit infractions, caused drivers’ pay to fall below the required minimum wage.

All three plaintiffs also argue that they were not paid premium time-and-a-half overtime pay for the hours they worked above 40 each week. The third plaintiff, who still works at one of the restaurant locations as a cook, says the defendants don’t properly record or compensate his 60 hours of work per week. According to the suit, he is only permitted to record up to 10-hour shifts despite frequently working 12 hours at a time. Additionally, the case claims the man’s supervisors sometimes demand that he perform duties unrelated to his kitchen work – such as cleaning the restaurant’s roof – after clocking out or before clocking in without paying him any wages for the extra work. 

Note: One of the attorneys on the complaint reached out to ClassAction.org with updated contact information.