Walmart delivery drivers class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Joshua Walz filed a class action lawsuit against Walmart Inc., Delivery Drivers Inc. and his Walmart supervisor, Ashley Hatfield.
- Why: Walz claims Walmart misclassified as independent contractors individuals who provided delivery services for the company through its Spark Driver program.
- Where: The class action lawsuit has been removed to Washington federal court.
Walmart misclassified delivery drivers who provide a delivery service for the company through its Spark Driver program as independent contractors, when, in reality, they should be classified as employees, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Joshua Walz claims Walmart, by way of allegedly misclassifying its delivery app drivers, fails to pay them minimum wage, tips and overtime wages; fails to ensure rest periods and provide meal periods; and fails to allow the accrual and use of paid sick leave.
Walz argues delivery drivers who provided a delivery service for Walmart were too controlled by the company to count as independent contractors, rather than employees.
“Defendant Walmart substantially restricted how Plaintiff and members of the putative class performed the duties of their job,” the Walmart class action states.
Walz wants to represent a class of individuals who are or have been contracted by Walmart to provide delivery services to Walmart locations in Washington at any time since Oct. 23, 2020, and who were paid in whole or in part on a piecework, commission or other productivity basis.
Walmart delivery app drivers treated like employees, class action says
Walz argues delivery drivers who provide services for Walmart through its Spark Driver program are tightly controlled by the company, which he claims directs how goods can be loaded in their vehicles and unilaterally sets their compensation and method of pay, among other things.
“Defendants had the ability to set terms and conditions of employment of Plaintiff and members of the putative class to a substantial degree and all had the ability to hire and fire,” the Walmart class action states.
Walz claims Walmart is guilty of violating the Washington Minimum Wage Act, Washington Wage Rebate Act and the Washington Wage Payment Act.
The plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting an award of exemplary damages for himself and all class members.
A separate class action lawsuit was filed against Walmart in August by a consumer arguing the company failed to make its website fully accessible to and independently usable by individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Have you provided delivery services to Walmart through its Spark Driver program? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by James B. Pizl, Justin Abbasi and Ari Robbins Greene of Entente Law PLLC.
The Walmart delivery drivers class action lawsuit is Walz, et al. v. Walmart Inc., et al., Case No. 3:23-cv-06083, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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130 thoughts onWalmart class action alleges company misclassifies delivery app drivers as independent contractors
I was deactivated by Spark for no reason. My pay never added up right I had over 15 people sign up under my name to get the referral bonus and I didn’t receive not 1!! Was told they didn’t sign up under my name when they used the referral link I sent them to sign up. I have so many missing tip. Seems if you work on sundays all those tips disappear and suppose to show up on the following weeks Check but never showed up.
Walmart/ Spark do the exact same thing in KY. I currently work for them
I’ve been deactivated three times in one year from Spark and each time, No one can tell me anything, I would send at least 10 emails per couple days call all day and submit appeals just to received a response nearly two months later each time
I have been driving for spark a little over 5 years now off and on. .have seen so many changes over the years.. supposed to get extra earnings for bulky , heavy items or apartments. They lower the base pay, then add 67 cents to make it 7 dollars again. They are not paying extra like the say they are, they lower base pay and then make it the same as an order with 1 small items.. also says earn more bye taking 3 curbsides, well they are still offering 7 or 8 dollars trying to get you to take 3 orders 10 miles.. also shopping used to be paid at a rate at 20 dollar minimum in my zone. Well as of end of 23 they cut that pay to 11 dollars.
I’ve been driving g for Walmart for over a year then when I started reporting the illegals I got deactivated told I made discrimination comments to someone or did something. I did not and they will mot answer my questions now. I simply reported illegal activity and they don’t REALLY want you too.
Was told I was eligible for extra or higher compensation for longer wait times that extended past 30 min please press confirm button and have yet to receive any also if over 30 min wait time would only be given 2.00 dollars for show up time if ordered was canceled
I drove from November to December got “deactivated” for doing as I was told as per driver support for a return. I even dropped off all the products at the Wal-Mart store that “could not take them as the return wasn’t in the computer” I literally got deactivated for giving Wal-Mart 400 plus dollars of groceries I picked up 15 mins prior and delivery was canceled as soon as we had them loaded. Idk what to tell people tbh. Neither Wal-Mart/Spark can give me an explanation. Only deactivated! Nothing about unloading all the products myself or wheeling them into the return/grocery pickup. I even called the store manager on duty at the time of delivery. Then called him when I got deactivated 2 weeks later for the incident. He has zero idea. No one can give a straight answer. So my advice is don’t do Spark!
There are many issues with Spark. Wait time pay, finger print and picture of yourself to log on, customer support has no answers, issues with app constantly
My whole identity has been stolen my account was deactivated 21 days later after I filed my taxes they would have me do a trip that’s 25 miles and 11 – 13 drop offs and pay only 30 dollars
I worked for Soark about 2 years. There has been times that if the item wasn’t in stock, after waiting 30 min for an employee to tell me that. I wouldn’t get paid. Or how they change the amount once you accept the offer. I have sceenshots. How the tips don’t add up. In the app it says I made alot more than i did. Some weeks I didn’t work. It says I made $1400. LOL I didn’t get anything that week.
They allow people to use bots to take orders from me that are only to be for me, the round robins, they know illegals are doing all the lucrative shop orders. They cut pay if the customer has a high tip, the list goes on. On most offers, you will only make 3 an hour because the route takes you too far to get done for the next round of offers so you have to wait another hour or more, so you only made 3 or 4 on your last 7 or 8 order.
I have been saying for so long that they were stealing our tips !! They lower there delivery compensation based on the customer’s tip…that’s stealing from us no matter how you look at it. They deactivate for no reason and nobody will help you understand why. There is also the issue of receiving a traffic violation on your personal time and they deactivate for that. The lines are a bit blurry as to how much control they have. They are totally taking advantage, but the worst part is they steal our money
Same here I have been saying this for 3 years and it use to be 2 orders and they said we will pay you more and they are adding a third to the order but the pay went down even more how do we get in on this law suit