Bethany Jean Clement: Pagliacci Pizza faces another class-action lawsuit from delivery drivers [The Seattle Times]

May 17—Seattle-area chain Pagliacci Pizza stands accused of failing to properly reimburse its delivery drivers for automobile expenses, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court.

This comes three years after the company settled another class-action suit for $3.75 million that included similar mileage reimbursement claims. "Pagliacci did not change its practices with respect to driver reimbursements after that settlement in 2021," according to the new allegations.

The new lawsuit alleges that Pagliacci paid delivery drivers a set amount for each delivery, regardless of distance, rather than on a per-mile basis, resulting in insufficient reimbursement to cover drivers' costs. The suit further alleges that the gap between the company's payment for mileage under this policy and the actual cost incurred by drivers was large enough that it sometimes resulted in pay below the legal minimum wage.

The individual plaintiff on the suit "raised concerns" about the policy throughout 2023, and in April 2024, Pagliacci began paying delivery drivers on the per-mile basis, the filings say.

But during the three-year period leading up to April 2024, according to the suit, Pagliacci reimbursed drivers between $1.54 and $1.62 per delivery, while the IRS mileage reimbursement rate over that three-year period ranged from $0.56 per mile to $0.67 per mile. The suit also notes that costs for gas and auto insurance in Western Washington exceed nationwide averages, and that delivery drivers incur higher costs for repairs and related expenses than the average driver, upon which the IRS estimate is based.

"We currently reimburse our drivers at the IRS maximum for all miles they drive," Pagliacci Pizza co-owner Matt Galvin said Thursday. "While there is no Washington state regulation specifically requiring reimbursement for delivery miles, we continually strive to ensure our policies are fair and supportive of our crew."

The lawsuit alleges that because workers were denied full reimbursement of costs necessarily incurred in performing their jobs, Pagliacci was in violation of state minimum wage and wage rebate law. Drivers at branches of the chain in Seattle would also be ensured full reimbursement of such costs under Seattle's Wage Theft Ordinance.

The individual plaintiff in the suit estimates his wages were lessened by more than $1,000 per year by Pagliacci's alleged failure to fully reimburse automobile expenses. The company employs more than 200 drivers, Galvin said.

"We take all concerns seriously and are committed to addressing any claims thoroughly," he said.

Wage theft is the failure of employers to pay employees what they're legally owed. It happens to workers of all stripes, but a Seattle Times report last month showed that no industry generates more wage theft complaints in Washington than food service.

American workers who claim lost wages can file private lawsuits or complaints with the U.S. Department of Labor, while the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries handles complaints at the state level. In Seattle, workers can file with the Office of Labor Standards, which prioritizes investigations in industries like food, construction and health care that are rife with labor standards violations.

Washington restaurant workers filed more than 3,000 wage complaints with L&I from 2018 to 2022, The Times verified by a public records request. (Data covering last year was not available at the time of publication.) National labor experts say the restaurant industry, with its many small businesses, is consistently among the worst offenders for these violations.

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