Papa John’s employee delivers lawsuit over employment practices

A Fort Collins, Colorado, Papa John’s Pizza International Inc. delivery man has delivered a 37-page lawsuit to his employer, alleging the company suppresses pay and limits employment opportunities by barring franchisees from recruiting each other’s employees.

The company’s “antitrust” franchise agreement includes language in which franchisees agree not to “solicit, entice or induce” employees of Papa John’s affiliates to leave their positions, according to the Dec. 17 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville, Kentucky.

The delivery man, Jay Houston, said in his lawsuit that the provisions prevent him from getting better wages at another Papa John's store, over the $7.18 to $10.20 an hour he makes as a cook and a driver at the Fort Collins location, one of two in the city.

He said he's received no raises or promotions and accuses the company of violating antitrust laws in preventing him from seeking employment — with better wages — at another location, according to the lawsuit alleging the company’s “no-poach and no-hire agreement is an unreasonable restraint of trade.”