Carlos Rodriguez Herrera said he often worked 65 hours a week as a deliveryman for a Domino’s pizza shop in Manhattan but was paid for just 45 hours. A co-worker, Antatole Yameogo, remembers working from 10 am to 8 pm one Saturday, but his pay stub said he worked just five hours that day.
‘One manager told me you will work more than 50 hours a week but we’ll pay you for 40,’ Yameogo said. ‘That helps the managers increase their bonus.’
Citing these and other complaints, the two bicycle deliverymen sued the Domino’s franchisee that employed them, accusing it of minimum wage and overtime violations. Eventually, dozens of delivery workers joined the lawsuit, and their lawyers announced Friday that the Domino’s franchisee, DPNY Inc., had agreed to pay $1.28 million to 61 workers to settle the claims.
The awards will range from $400 to $61,300 per delivery person, depending on how long each worked for DPNY, which owns four Domino’s in Manhattan.
‘It took three years of litigation, but it’s a great victory for them,’ said Karen Cacace, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society, which brought the case. ‘Hopefully it will inspire other delivery workers and low-wage workers to take action if they’re not being paid correctly, and hopefully it will make employers recognize that there can be a significant cost to violating wage laws.’
The lawsuit accused DPNY of many violations, among them, not giving a legally required lunch break, not paying for their uniforms, and paying a subminimum tip wage even when the workers did untipped work, like cleaning ovens and floors or distributing Domino’s fliers.
David Melton, the owner of DPNY, said he had settled ‘to get the situation behind us and move forward with our business.’ ‘In any dispute people say things that may or may not be true, and that is the case here,’ Melton said. ‘We made some mistakes in our business.’