Two Missouri law firms have filed a federal lawsuit against Papa John's International Inc. and one of its franchisees alleging the companies violated state and federal law by failing to reimburse employees for expenses they incurred while delivering pizzas.
The franchisee, PJCOMN Acquisition Corp. and Essential Pizza Inc., operates more than 80 Papa John's franchise stores in Colorado and Minnesota. The suit mirrors ones filed against Pizza Hut and Domino's in recent months. (Read also, Pizza Hut franchisee responds to driver lawsuit and Drivers take pay complaints to court.) The plaintiffs allege that Papa John's failed to adequately reimburse its drivers, instead paying a "per delivery" amount, which was not enough to cover drivers' actual costs and resulted in drivers being paid less than minimum wage. The lawsuits also allege the companies failed to reimburse delivery drivers for cell phone charges incurred for job-related purposes, uniform item purchases including pants and shoes, dry cleaning and laundering services, maps, flashlights and batteries.
Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP in Kansas City and Weinhaus & Potashnick in St. Louis have filed lawsuits in Colorado and Missouri.
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