DoorDash Customer Class Action Lawsuit Claims Tip-Skimming Policy Misled Customers

A Brooklyn, N.Y. man has filed a DoorDash customer class action lawsuit alleging the company kept tips intended for delivery workers.

Plaintiff Alan Arkin accuses DoorDash of violating consumer protection statutes in various states, including New York’s General Business Law. Arkin also alleges DoorDash committed fraud and is guilty of unjust enrichment.

Arkin said he made about 38 purchases using the DoorDash app and tipped the delivery driver through the app. DoorDash refers to their 400,000 food app delivery drivers as Dashers.

Arkin’s complaint was filed just one week after the publication of a July 21, 2019 article by the New York Times written by reporter Andy Newman who worked as a Dasher for DoorDash.

Newman wrote that he did not receive a tip for nearly two-thirds of the deliveries he made because the DoorDash app “effectively pockets tips made via the app” and that only cash tips were able to be kept by the Dasher.

DoorDash allegedly began a policy on Sept. 22, 2017 that guaranteed each delivery driver a guaranteed minimum amount of pay per delivery. When a customer tipped, in most cases, that tip paid through the DoorDash app would provide DoorDash a subsidy the company used toward the minimum pay provided to the Dasher. The tip would not increase the worker’s pay, but would go to subsidize DoorDash’s labor costs.

The DoorDash customer class action lawsuit explains if the food delivery bill was $10 and the customer added a $3 tip on the app, the customer paid $13 total, and the delivery driver was paid $7. If the food delivery bill was $10 and the customer chose not to tip, the customer paid $10, and the delivery worker still was paid $7.

Arkin alleges had he known the tip entered on the DoorDash app was not going to be provided to the Dasher for providing good service, Arkin would not have agreed to enter and pay a tip on the app.

DoorDash Customer Class Action Lawsuit Could Represent Thousands of Customers

According to the DoorDash customer lawsuit, the app was active in 3,000 cities throughout the U.S. in 2018, and had captured more than 20 percent of all monthly online food deliveries. More than 245,000 people were active mobile app users.

Arkin argues he should be allowed to bring his claims as a class action lawsuit because the names and addresses of all proposed Class Members are identifiable in the business records kept by DoorDash.

According to the DoorDash lawsuit, the company “has over-charged and collected tips from Plaintiff and other Class Members who reasonably believed the exact tip amount which they entered on the DoorDash app would be paid to the Dasher as a wage enhancement for good service, not to DoorDash, either in whole or in part, as a subsidy to offset its costs.”

DoorDash allegedly changed to a “New Pay Model” after the New York Times article was published. According to DoorDash’s website, as of Oct. 1, 2019, all Dashers are under the new pay model, which has resulted in U.S. Dashers’ earnings increasing by an average of 12.5 percent, including tips.

The DoorDash Customer Class Action Lawsuit is Arkin v. DoorDash Inc., Case No. 1:19-cv-04357 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Join a Free DoorDash User Tip Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you left a tip for your DoorDash driver between Sept. 22, 2017 and Sept. 18, 2019, you may be eligible to join a FREE DoorDash user tip class action lawsuit investigation.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.