New York State attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman delivered a $567,000 lawsuit to Domino’s Pizza on Monday. According to the lawsuit, the chain and three of its franchisees have been underpaying workers in 10 stores in New York at least $565,000 in wages over the past four years by using a payroll system, “PULSE,” that under-calculated workers’ wages.
The franchise supplied stores with the system, knowing that it undercalculated employee salaries, according to an investigation by Schneiderman. Despite updating PULSE, Domino’s has not fixed the issue of underpayment to employees. His investigation also found that Domino’s “played a role in the hiring, firing, and discipline employees, pushed for anti-union position on franchisees and closely monitored employee job performance through onsite and electronic reviews.”
“At some point, a company has to take responsibility for its actions and for its workers’ well-being,” said Attorney General Schneiderman in a press release. “We’ve found rampant wage violations at Domino’s franchise stores. And, as our suit alleges, we’ve discovered that Domino’s headquarters was intensely involved in store operations, and even caused many of these violations. Under these circumstances, New York law – as well as basic human decency – holds Domino’s responsible for the alleged mistreatment of the workers who make and deliver the company’s pizza. Domino’s can, and must, fix this problem.”