Post & Courier (Charleston, SC)

SUMMERVILLE - A former driver for a Summerville restaurant claims his vehicle expenses should have been reimbursed by his employer, and when they weren't that it violated federal wage laws, in a lawsuit that could ripple through the region's growing food delivery industry.

Donald Nicholas Craven filed the federal complaint against Mad Fish SC LLC, which operates the Mad Fish sushi and hibachi restaurant on Trolley Road. Craven said in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston that he and other drivers had to cover their own work-related gas, maintenance, insurance and other expenses, which caused their pay to fall below minimum wage.

Instead of reimbursing drivers for their expenses or at a mileage rate specified by the Internal Revenue Service, the lawsuit alleged, Mad Fish owner Xin Lin paid them $1 per delivery - an amount Craven said was far below actual costs. And while Mad Fish charged its customers a delivery surcharge, the fee was not passed on to drivers.

"As a result of the automobile and other job-related expenses ... (drivers) were deprived of minimum wages guaranteed to them by the (Fair Labor Standards Act)," the lawsuit alleged.

It added the Mad Fish reimbursement formula of $1 per delivery "has resulted in an unreasonable underestimation of delivery drivers' automobile expenses ... causing systematic violations of the minimum wage laws."

Craven, who is represented by Rock Hill lawyer Jacob Modla, is seeking...

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