Santa Clara, CA: A $995,000 award in a wage and hour lawsuit has received final approval by a federal judge in Georgia. The action was brought against Domino’s franchisees Cowabunga Inc. and Cowabunga Three LLC, by drivers who alleged the franchisees shorted their drivers on vehicle expenses, resulting in the drivers' pay going below below minimum wage in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The named plaintiff, Chadwick Hines, will receive a $7,500 service award. The final approval of the settlement ends the lawsuit filed against Cowabunga in 2015. Cowabunga, one of the largest singly owned Domino’s franchises in the U.S.
A total of 565 Cowabunga delivery drivers opted into to the case. The drivers will receive damages from the $995,000 settlement in exchange for waiving their wage and hour claims against Cowabunga. The average award per driver is $1,138.
Cowabunga operates about 100 Domino’s franchise stores in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.
The case is Hines v. Cowabunga Inc. et al., case number 1:15-cv-00828, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
