Florida Papa John’s Delivery Drivers Owed Unreimbursed Vehicle Expenses, Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed collective action claims the operator of numerous Papa John’s pizza restaurants has failed to properly reimburse delivery drivers for expenses associated with the use of their personal vehicles.

According to the 10-page case, defendant Rohoho, Inc.’s reimbursement policy falls well short of the IRS business mileage reimbursement rate or any other reasonable approximation of the cost of owning and operating a vehicle. As a result of the defendant’s “flawed method” for approximating drivers’ expenses—which include the costs of gasoline, vehicle parts and fluid, repair and maintenance, insurance, depreciation and other expenses—the workers’ unreimbursed costs have caused their wages to fall below the federal minimum, the suit alleges.

“In sum, Defendant’s reimbursement policy and methodology fail to reflect the realities of delivery drivers’ automobile expenses,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit explains that between 2018 and 2021, the IRS business mileage reimbursement rate, which represents a reasonable approximation of the costs of owning and operating a vehicle, ranged from $0.545 to $0.58 per mile. Costs associated with delivering pizza, however, are even higher given drivers frequently start and stop their vehicles, brake often, take mostly short routes as opposed to driving on highways and drive under time pressure, the case stresses.

The plaintiff, who worked for the defendant’s Fort Myers, Florida Papa John’s pizza store, claims the company’s reimbursement policy failed to reimburse drivers for “even their ongoing out-of-pocket expenses,” much less other costs associated with operating their vehicles for the business’s benefit. Per the case, the plaintiff was paid the applicable minimum wage while employed by Papa John’s, including a tip credit that was applied to her wages while she was delivering food. The plaintiff says she drove an average of 10 or more miles per delivery and was reimbursed $1.50 per delivery for vehicle expenses.

“This means plaintiff was getting paid approximately $.150 per mile ($1.50 divided by 10 miles respectively),” the lawsuit reads.

Using the lowest IRS business mileage reimbursement rate at the time, which represents an approximation of the plaintiff’s expenses, the lawsuit estimates the driver was under-reimbursed by at least $0.385 per mile.

“During employment by Defendant, Plaintiff regularly made 3 or more deliveries per hour,” the complaint relays. “Thus using even a conservative under-estimate of Plaintiff’s actual expenses and damages, every hour on the job decreased Plaintiff’s net wages by at least $1.16 ($.385 x 3 deliveries).”

The lawsuit argues that because Papa John’s delivery drivers incurred unreimbursed expenses, they “kicked back” to their employer an amount sufficient enough to cause minimum wage violations.

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