Dive Brief:
- The New York State attorney general is suing pizza making chain Domino's for helping itself to a slice of employee wages, according to the New York Times.
- The attorney general accused the corporate franchiser that owns Domino’s Pizza of using a rigged computer system in franchises across the state to "systematically" underreport hours employees logged. The AG's suit alleges Domino's shortchanged its workers by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- According to the Times, this litigation is the latest in an ongoing campaign by Eric T. Schneiderman, the NY state attorney general, to halt a pattern of employers shortchanging low-wage workers. Since 2011, the Times says, Schneiderman has garnered more than $26 million for about 20,000 workers who were ripped off by employers in NY.
Dive Insight:
Seems this is a growing trend, as the Times says labor advocates believe a surge in lawsuits reflects changes within the American workplace. Along those lines, over the past six or so years, the Dept. of Labor's wage and hour division has recovered over $1 billion in unpaid wages nationwide.
During its a four-year investigation, a sample of franchisee records entered into Domino’s own computer system showed that 78% of franchisees listed instances of subminimum wages, and 86% of franchisees listed instances of unlawfully low overtime rates, according to Schneiderman’s office.
In its statement, Domino’s defended itself, and said it worked with the attorney general’s office for more than three years and labeled the lawsuit baseless, the Times reports.