Labor Department seeking over 1,300 current, former workers at Arizona auto parts distributor, delivery company to repay over $5.6M in back wages, damages

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking people now or once employed by a national auto parts distributor and its delivery company who may be owed their share of more than $5.6 million in back wages and damages recovered on behalf of more than 1,300 drivers.

The division encourages people who worked while classified as independent contractors for Parts Authority and Diligent Delivery Systems in Arizona from April 2012 through March 2020 and who believe the employer may have denied them full wages to call 877-465-4898 from Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CDT. Workers are strongly encouraged to act quickly.

In November 2022, the department obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona that requires Parts Authority Arizona LLC and Arizona Logistics Inc. – operating as Diligent Delivery Systems – to pay the monies to the drivers who the employer misclassified as independent contractors.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined the misclassification caused the employer to incur violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act for the following:

• Failing to meet minimum wage requirements.
• Paying straight-time rates for all hours worked.
• Not paying the time and one-half overtime rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.
• Failing to keep required timekeeping records.

Investigators also found the company required employees to use their personal vehicles for deliveries and did not pay them when they did, another FLSA violation.

“We want to make sure that Parts Authority Arizona and Arizona Logistics workers receive all the wages and damages owed to them,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray in Phoenix. “Workers may be difficult to locate when they change addresses or phone numbers, and they may not be aware they are owed back pay. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and its Office of the Solicitor is working diligently to ensure the more than 1,300 underpaid employees of Parts Authority and Arizona Logistics get their shares of the $5.6 million that the agency recovered for them.”

Founded in 1973, Parts Authority is a leading national distributor of automotive replacement parts, tools, equipment and transmissions. Headquartered in Lake Success, New York, the company has more than 200 U.S. locations. Diligent Delivery Systems has national headquarters in Houston and 46 U.S. locations serving industries, including automotive, healthcare, retail and e-commerce, oil and gas, and agriculture.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from. The department can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and now available in Spanish – to track hours and pay.

This news release is also available in Spanish.