Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Amazon Flex drivers in Massachusetts are claiming their employer illegally pockets tips.
Lead plaintiff Phillip Sullivan, who has worked as an Amazon Flex driver since 2017, alleges Amazon started taking tips in 2016 to about August 2019, according to a class action lawsuit filed Monday.
Amazon Flex pays drivers to deliver packages using personal vehicles at an advertised hourly rate of $18 to $25 an hour plus all tips, according to the class action.
“Amazon only changed this practice after the Federal Trade Commission began investigating their tip retention practices,” the lawsuit contends.
Formally, Sullivan is accusing Amazon of breaking Massachusetts wage laws, breaching contracts with its employees and being unjustly enriched by the practice of taking tips. He is seeking restitution in addition to triple damages.
Sullivan isn’t the only driver to take legal action against Amazon Flex.
The allegations follow a $61.7 million recent deal Amazon reached with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this month, a number equal to the amount of tips taken.
An FTC investigation found Amazon used customer tips that were meant to go directly to its Flex drivers instead were being withheld to make up the difference between lower pay rates and a promised one.
“This theft did not go unnoticed by Amazon’s drivers, many of whom expressed anger and confusion to the company,” FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra said in a statement last week. “But, rather than coming clean, Amazon took elaborate steps to mislead its drivers and conceal its theft, sending them canned responses that repeated the company’s lies.”
Do you deliver packages for Amazon? Did you have customer tips taken from you? Let us know what you think of this class action lawsuit in the comments below.
Sullivan is represented by Brant Sullivan and Hillary Schwab of Fair Work PC.
The Amazon Driver Tip Stealing Class Action Lawsuit is Sullivan et al., v. Amazon.com Inc. et al., Case No. 2184-CV00265, in Suffolk County Superior Court.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
26 thoughts onAmazon Flex Drivers Fight Back For Allegedly Stolen Tips
Imma flex driver end they are not paying me right. Sign me up!
Yes I’m a victim 2018-2019