The claim alleges that drivers and in-store staff were underpaid up to $11 an hour,or $10,000 a year. It was brought by class action law firm Phi Finney McDonald and could be worth tens of millions of dollars to low-paid workers employed at Domino’s franchise stores.
The first court day exposed the bitter fight at the centre of the scandal revealed in investigations byThe AgeandTheSydney Morning Herald,which detailed arrangements between big business and shop assistants union the SDA that affected more than 250,000 workers.
Rachel Doyle,SC,lawyer for the plaintiffs,told Justice Bernard Murphy during opening arguments that Domino’s actions amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct. One example of this,Doyle argued,was through the bookkeeping system,which defaulted to the agreement wage that was less than the award.
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“We say that’s ... misleading or deceptive because it is conduct which conveys the implied representations of those rates[provided in the bookkeeping system] are the correct ones,” Doyle said.
Doyle also told the court that her team had continued to receive information from the Domino’s lawyers as late as 10pm on Tuesday,which was the Melbourne Cup public holiday.
Lead plaintiff Riley Gall,who represents other members of the class action,was a Domino’s delivery driver in Caboolture,Queensland,from October 2015 to August 2016 and then in North Caboolture from August 2016 to March 2018. He launched the case in 2019.