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DoorDash continues to flout state labor laws by misclassifying its drivers, called “dashers”, subjecting them to low wages and lack of benefits, according to a class action lawsuit.
The company is accused of enriching itself on the backs of its drivers, who receive low pay and no benefits as independent contractors. Allegedly, 97.5 percent of DoorDash’s workforce consists of independent contractors who are denied protections under federal and state labor laws.
“Companies like DoorDash were never supposed to be allowed to run an entire business on the backs of independent contractors,” asserts the lawsuit. “People who work in the company’s core line of business are its ‘employees.’”
The plaintiffs say that DoorDash continues to willfully misclassify its drivers as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits or a minimum wage, but treats them like employees.
“Even though federal, California, Illinois, and Massachusetts law require DoorDash drivers to be classified as ‘employees’ and receive the rights and protections employees get, DoorDash continues to willfully misclassify them as independent contractors, to reap the benefit of their work and maximize its profit,” asserts the class action lawsuit.
The lead plaintiffs say they have all worked as dashers and had similar experiences with the company. They say that they have been responsible for paying for the costs associated with making DoorDash deliveries, including gas, insurance, and mileage, despite the company failing to pay them the federal minimum wage for their work.
Despite the low pay and contractor status, dashers must follow detailed instructions when they begin their DoorDash shift. Failure to follow “precise instructions” can result in termination of their position.
A typical shift begins when the dasher clicks a button on the DoorDash app in order to be assigned orders for delivery, according to the lawsuit. Dasher’s tasks include driving to the assigned restaurant, notifying DoorDash that they have arrived, and picking up or waiting for the food order.
The plaintiffs say an assigned credit card, the Red Card, must be used to pay for the food. Then dashers must drive to the customer’s location, park, follow specific delivery options, and notify DoorDash when the delivery is complete.
According to the class action lawsuit, dashers are evaluated based on a series of factors, including “On Time” delivery, customer ratings, completion rates, and acceptance rates. Plaintiffs say delivery times are tight and do not take into account delays at the restaurant or even with the DoorDash app itself.
In addition, dashers are allegedly penalized for trying to take only high paying or low distance orders, potentially facing deactivation of their account for failing to take on more assignments.
“Dashers with low metrics are terminated,” says the lawsuit. “For example, DoorDash bans drivers from the Dasher App if the driver’s Average Customer Rating falls below 4.2 stars.”
Further, a dasher’s metrics can allegedly affect the quality of deliveries they are assigned along with their pay.
Dashers and DoorDash customers alike are duped by the company’s policy on tips, as well, claim the plaintiffs. Customers may think they are leaving their dasher a tip on top of the fee the driver is paid by DoorDash; however, prior to 2019, dashers received either the guaranteed amount DoorDash would pay for the order or the customer tip – not both.
The plaintiffs seek to represent DoorDash dashers in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts who have not signed the company’s arbitration clause.
Have you worked as a DoorDash dasher? We want to hear about your experience. Tell us in the comment section below!
The lead plaintiffs are represented by Jahan Sagafi, Relic Sun, and Molly Frandsen of Outten & Golden LLP and Steven M. Tindall, Aaron Blumenthal, and Nikul Shah of Gibbs Law Group LLP.
The DoorDash Dasher Class Action Lawsuit is Clifford L., et al. v. DoorDash Inc., Case No. 20-cv-00666, in the U.S District Court Northern District of California.
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619 thoughts onDoorDash Class Action Lawsuit Alleges That Drivers Are Paid ‘Substandard Wages’
Add me please
I left a previous comment and I would love to be at it I have so much evidence of them lying about the pay emails and I’m sure are recordings or our phone calls are recorded that we make to them if we all got together we could really make them pay for the earnings that they’re stealing from us
ADD ME ADD ME ADD ME PLEASE
I have worked Doordash for a year only to be deactivated due to me reporting restaurants closed due to a hurricane. I received mostly$3 orders when I drove for them.
I have worked for Door Dash for five months. It has been horrible!!!! I have been sent to restuarants that were closed and only received half the pay and no gas mileage reimbursement. I have been given wrong addresses and/ resturant locations with no compensation. The app. has stopped working numerous times in the middle of a delivery, causing me to lose time, gas and money. Door Dash refused to compensate me. This comoany doesnt appear to care at all about their Dashers. Tons of wear on my car, threats if I don’t complete a delivery with the wrong address. That’s to say the least!
The deliveries pay poorly, I drove around 12 hours in a day and only made 40.00. Some deliveries were 30 minutes away for 3.00. Horrible company to work for!!!!
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I been working with doordash since it started…all it do is wear nd tear my car down for the lack of pay…i demand more to make it better
I have worked with doordash for almost three years now and sometimes it’s a fair wage but most days it’s not. I am always quote on quote paranoid that I’m going to get kicked off for not taking enough orders. I also am not comfortable with them kicking you off without investigation first for instance if a customer says that I stole their food they’re liable to believe that I stole their food.
Add me please
I have worked for Door Dash for five months. It has been horrible!!!! I have been sent to restuarants that were closed and only received half the pay and no gas mileage reimbursement. I have been given wrong addresses and/ resturant locations with no compensation. The app. has stopped working numerous times in the middle of a delivery, causing me to lose time, gas and money. Door Dash refused to compensate me. This comoany doesnt appear to care at all about their Dashers. Tons of wear on my car, threats if I don’t complete a delivery with the wrong address. That’s to say the least!
I have been with door Dash for over two years. The offers that come through nowhere near cover the wear and tear on our vehicles the gas we have to go through the maintenance the upkeep and even if we do except a three or four dollar order we end up having to drive 1215 miles to deliver this food and then we don’t even get tipped. These people ordering food from door Dash where we have to deliver they treat us like their slave. Many times in the middle of picking up an order for a customer and delivering it to them they’ll text asking if this, that or the other was included with their order. And then if it’s not after we drop it off supposedly we are to blame where we are not allowed to look in the bags because it’s not our food. Then the customer ends up giving us a bad review because we didn’t open the bag and look in to see what was missing. Or they call and say their food was never delivered only to get a refund or basically a free meal so what they pay us does not even nearly cover The crap that we have to go through for lowball orders.
Been a dasher for 5 months. Some days its good, some it’s not. I have to drive about 20 minutes to be able to get into a dash zone. As I live in a small town. So i try to make it enough to cover my gas expenses as well as maintenance to my vehicles. But some times it’s not even close to enough, as amount of time, distances back and forth, and the non tippers. The $3 base pay doesn’t help anything when no one tips. I’m in indiana and it’s not always busy. And when you think it’s busy, your sitting for for hour before you get a 6 mile distance for a small amount usually $6-7 is usual around my area. Which isn’t even hardly minimum wage around here, and sometimes only get 1-2 deliveries an hour in these cases. So doesn’t hardly go over the amount of gas for that day!