The cases, the theory behind them, your state's exposure, and the structure that closes the risk. Maintained continuously as decisions land.
Most of the reported decisions involve pizza, and that is a fact about the industry rather than about the law: pizza chains employed W-2 delivery drivers at scale earlier and in greater numbers than anyone else, so the case law grew up there first. Nothing in the Fair Labor Standards Act, in Parker, or in West turns on what was in the bag. The mechanism is a driver using their own car, reimbursed below what the car costs, with the shortfall landing on a wage that is already close to the floor. A sandwich shop meets that description exactly, which is why the sandwich cases in the library below read like the pizza ones.
Every figure below is an amount reported in a specific case. None of it is modeled, estimated or illustrative.
Settlement amounts as published by Biller & Kimble LLC, the plaintiffs' firm that brought these cases, on its public case and settlement pages; the Department of Labor figure is from that agency's own enforcement release. Defendant entities are named as they appear in the public record. The national brands those franchisees operate under are not identified here. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
A walkthrough of how these cases developed and what each one turned on, covering the same ground as this page in about ten minutes.
The defenses eroded case by case, then collapsed in two decisions.
The FLSA kickback theory treats unreimbursed vehicle costs as payments from driver to employer. If effective pay falls below minimum wage in any workweek, every under-reimbursed mile is a violation. No bad faith required; a spreadsheet settles it.
The same math applies to every driver, every shift, every store, over a two-to-three-year lookback, doubled by liquidated damages, plus fee-shifting. That is why these are collective actions and why multi-unit operators are the preferred target.
Since the burden shift and West, the employer who cannot produce per-driver mileage records loses the benefit of the doubt: the driver's reasonable reconstruction fills the gap. Tips never offset reimbursement; they are the driver's property.
Full legal mechanics: The FLSA Kickback Theory, Explained →
Case descriptions summarize public court records and reporting for general information. Several significant cases in this category involve brands this publication does not cover; the franchisee entities are named as they appear in the public record, the brands are not. Nothing here is legal advice.
Where the case law binds, where it persuades, and what your state adds on top.
Answer honestly; nothing is recorded. Each "yes" is a door a demand letter walks through.
Deep dives, interactive tools, and the state guides that tie into this center.
The 2024 decision that ended the IRS-rate safe harbor: what the Sixth Circuit actually held, where it binds, and what it demands instead.
The January 2026 decision that closed the flat-fee fallback and put the recordkeeping burden on operators.
The engine inside every delivery driver lawsuit: free-and-clear wages, tools of the trade, and the workweek math.
The broader litigation wave in one article: the pattern, the settlements, and what changed each year.
Score your structure against what plaintiffs' counsel checks, in about two minutes.
Put an illustrative annual dollar figure on your current reimbursement gap.
Operating under binding precedent: the strictest reading of the new standard.
The state whose federal court rejected flat-rate reimbursement outright.
Wages, tips, credits, overtime, and reimbursement as one compliant structure.
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This center summarizes public court decisions and reporting for general information and is not legal advice. Settlement figures are as publicly reported; exposure figures are illustrative models. Several significant cases in this category involve brands this publication does not cover and are described without brand identification. Consult qualified employment counsel about your specific situation.