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Months after announcing it would end the practice of using customer tips to subsidize drivers’ pay, DoorDash is still facing a class action lawsuit alleging the practice violates labor laws.
Known as Dashers, the California company’s delivery drivers are guaranteed a minimum income per delivery. If that guaranteed amount is $8, and the Dasher receives no tip from a customer, DoorDash pays the driver the full $8–at least under its current compensation policy.
Things were reportedly different a few months ago. According to DoorDash’s previous payment strategy, if that same customer tipped the Dasher $3 on the app, DoorDash would deduct that amount from what it paid the driver and pay them only $5 — leaving the driver with the $8 minimum.
In July of this year, The New York Times reported that DoorDash stopped using tips to offset the amount of money the company pays its drivers. But several drivers don’t believe the company’s assurances, and they accuse the company of continuing to skim tips.
Angry customers who thought they were providing extra income to an individual Dasher and not to the multi-billion-dollar company have filed lawsuits, virtually accusing DoorDash of stealing tips meant for the workers. Dashers also have filed lawsuits alleging they do not receive a base pay plus 100 percent of their tips. Some Dashers fear the company will lower the rate of pay in order to compensate for no longer being allowed to absorb Dashers’ tips.
Has DoorDash Been Violating Labor Laws?
In July, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu announced that the company would no longer take the customers’ tips as a way to offset their pay to contractors. But on Aug. 21, 2019, Business Insider reported that reviews of DoorDash receipts as recent as Aug. 19, 2019 indicated DoorDash was continuing to use tips to subsidize Dashers’ pay.
In an email to TechCrunch, a DoorDash representative insisted that “every cent of every tip on DoorDash has always gone and will always go to Dashers.” The semantics of that sentence could be true even in the company’s old model because DoorDash would apply the $3 tip to the driver’s pay. However, DoorDash would then subtract $3 from what the company itself would pay the driver, negating the “tip” by reducing the driver’s base pay by the amount of the tip.
One lawsuit filed by class of DoorDash drivers accuses the company of violating labor laws by committing wage theft. Lead plaintiffs Jamie W. and Aaron H. allege, “A reasonable person reading the terms of the employment contract would not understand that DoorDash intended to keep the tips intended for the Plaintiff and Class for the purpose of subsidizing the pay promised by DoorDash.”
The lawsuit is seeking back pay from DoorDash because of all the tips the company has used to subsidize its payments to drivers since 2017. When asked by TechCrunch whether Dashers were owed back pay after the policy change, the DoorDash spokesperson insisted that “[t]here’s no ‘back pay’ at issue here” because the tip money has always ended up in Dashers’ pockets.
The DoorDash Labor Laws Lawsuit is Case No. 1:19-cv-00665-SCJ in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
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7 thoughts onDoorDash Accused of Violating California Labor Laws by Absorbing Tips
Hello my name is Michelle Sanchez an I’ve been working for doordash for 7 months I had reported to doordash about my deliveries being missing from my driver’s app once I complete a delivery I usually get a pop-up saying how much I got well sometimes I don’t get that an to find out my deliveries have been taking away from the actual drivers app so I would never get that pay so I called dasher an of course they say the same thing every time I called about missing deliveries an pay im sorry but unfortunately I don’t see any such deliveries so I emailed The CEO of doordash Tony an some lady emailed me back telling me I needed to provide what was missing,, how can I reply that ? I asked if I had the information on my app I would tell you, so since this every time I logged in for doordash I get bad glitches an I have screen shot of my deliveries I accepted an those deliveries were taking from me an I get a text from dasher saying oh were sorry Michelle but you missed a delivery , check your internet connection, so now I can’t work because I don’t get deliveries or they say my phone doesn’t have internet connection to receive deliveries, so I went an upgrade my phone with a higher base plan to get the best service an still they send me deliveries just to be taken away from me I have screen shots of my deliveries I actually accepted an was told I missed out an I actually have screen shots of the text from doordash telling me please check your phone for internet access because I missed deliveries, now Today my access to my dasher direct,, my pay was never posted for the work I completed I called dasher an of course they said oh we have issues please wait until 3 hours if not fixed call back , this is not right an I’ve given my time everyday with good ratings but dasher is treating me with the upmost dis respect an can’t help me one bit today is 11/6/2023 I worked for 3 hours an not once did my phone have any issues so I truly believe that they create glitches so you can’t dash on certain days an out time is lost , when I got home today I checked my dasher direct an my app isn’t working it glitches an it says I was logged out please try again later so now I can’t receive my full payment I worked today an it has not been posted to my dasher direct card at all please help I believe this company is ripping off us drivers an if we complain they treat us dirty like I’ve been treated
I’m a door dash driver. I been driving about two years now, I have been noticing a lot with door dash, taking tips, Earnings, and everything. I’ve call about this problem many times, but they always say that my pay is right or something like that. They are stealing while we trying to make a living by the small amounts they give. I’m a mom of 6 and struggling and can’t keep affording for door dash to keep ripping me off. It’s sad and I’ve had enough. I try to go make extra funds to get by but you can’t even do that, because a company like this is taking more than they giving out
Add me
Will Dashers finally get the tip money that people wanted us to get?
I am a plaintiff in this class action suit. But i have been blocked from my email where my information on the matter was stored… Im in California and i need the attorneys who are representing me in the suit names and contact info. . if im not mistaken theres a scheduled settlement hearing on March 30th 2021 with the attorneys who are representing me … If that can better help you locate the answer for me
Doordash does still steal tips. They remove the amount from what they pay the dasher.
EX: if I get an offer for $10. If I get a $7 tip, they will drop my pay to $3. Tony Xu is nothing but a crook. Vote no on 2020 prop.22
I’m name is Betty Siemer and I am a Door Dasher in Las Vegas, Nevada. Can I join this class action or get some information on the 8ssie.
Thank you