Friday, January 20, 2006

A Rant (from Lewis' blogs...he's right, again....)


An open letter to Domino's Pizza, the blogging community, and every civilized human being in creation:

I was livid when I read this news article in the online version of the Roanoke (Virginia) Times newspaper. In summary, the article reported that Christine Clayborne, a six-year employee and one-time manager of the Domino's Pizza franchise in Salem, Virginia, owned and operated by Tom Wallace, was robbed Sunday evening while making a pizza delivery in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

The next day, she was called by her boss and told that she had been fired for violating company policy that prohibits its delivery employees from carrying more than $20.00 cash from the store while making deliveries. The reason the company policy exists, according to another Domino's franchise owner, is for "insurance purposes." The real kicker is that, when an employee is robbed while carrying more than the requisite amount of money on his or her person, he or she is expected to personally reimburse the store for the stolen money!

According to the article, Clayborne is a community college student with three children to support, and now has no job with which to earn the funds which, according the the article, her boss informed her, "[She is] still going to pay...back [to the store]" after he fired her.

According to Clayborne, she was led to believe that it would be deducted from her paycheck, and in fact, she questioned whether she would ever even receive a final paycheck.

This, Domino's Pizza, is ridiculous, and not only that, potentially constitutes a violation of Virginia's labor laws unless there is a written authorization signed by the employee allowing for deduction of any funds outside of those necessary for income tax and other traditional withholding from his or her paycheck. I certainly hope that Ms. Clayborne files the necessary complaint with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry if you have violated this law (and Ms. Clayborne, in case you are reading this, you may click here to obtain the necessary complaint form and find instructions on how to file a labor complaint. You may also click here for contact information for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry field office for your region of the state.).

This causes one to wonder what a delivery driver is to do when someone orders one pizza and attempts to pay with a $100.00 bill. How tolerant will you be, Domino's, when your delivery employee has to return to your store multiple times to pick up the maximum $20.00 permitted to be carried from your doors and make several trips back to the delivery address just to make change for that one delivery? The fact, Domino's Pizza, is that hiding behind "insurance company requirements" for ill-advised treatment of your employees is nothing but a coward's response.

You should, perhaps, discuss this policy with your insurer, and find another insurer if this is their continued demand. Your insurer hinders your business. It has already cost you at least one customer.What is clear in the article, also, Domino's, is that Ms. Clayborne was robbed of more than $20.00 after making a prior delivery on the same delivery run. It would seem safe to presume that part of the proceeds of Ms. Clayborne's assailant's efforts included whatever sum she had collected from that delivery.

Is your insurer aware that you require your employees to make multiple deliveries in the same outing from your store? One other question makes the requirement of your employee's repayment of the pilfered funds a questionable practice is that, presumably, your insurer will be paying for the loss occasioned by Ms. Clayborne's falling victim to robbery. Requiring that your employee compensate you for the loss would seem to indicate that your company will receive a double recovery, once from the insurer, and again from your employee. It seems to me that this policy allows you to line your own pockets as the result of your employee's victimization. It seems unconscionable that Ms. Clayborne, having once suffered the distress of being robbed by a criminal, would then be "robbed" again by you.

Nevertheless, my questions aside, I feel that your treatment of a robbery victim who was in your employ for six years prior to the crime was completely unfair and absolutely ludicrous.If this offends you, my dear reader, I offer the following suggestions:

Contact the Domino's Pizza franchise at which Ms. Clayborne formerly worked to lodge your complaint.

The franchise owner's name, store's snail-mail address, and telephone number are:


I do not have an e-mail address as of yet, but have sent e-mail to the news article's author asking for that information, if available.

Boycott Domino's Pizza everywhere. Perhaps pressure lodged against all Domino's Pizza stores worldwide will cause a company-wide change of policy.
Contact the National Domino's Pizza company to complain. Mention your intention to boycott them, and specifically include the reason as being the treatment of Ms. Clayborne, and include a link to the news article cited above for their easy reference.

The news article link is:


The National Domino's Pizza snail-mail contact info is:

In addition, their website provides an online e-mail form. Click here to go directly to their "Contact Us" page and e-mail your complaints (as I have just done prior to posting this article). The more who complain, the better.

Finally, to my fellow bloggers, I hope that you will address this in your own blogs (and you have my specific permission to copy and reprint all or any portion of this post in doing so, or to provide a link back to this post in your own blog).

Ah, the power of blogging. Let's hope it works, at least for the sake of one unemployed mother of three who's trying to make ends meet.

I'll post updates if/when they become available.
Cross-posted from my other blog, Built for Comfort.
posted by Lewis at 12:17 PM 0 comments
Thursday, January 19, 2006
posted by Wanting at 7:50 PM