DoorDash to Pay $131.5 Million to Settle NYC Delivery Worker Wage Claims
DoorDash will pay $131.5 million to settle claims of underpaying over 260,000 delivery workers in New York City, announced Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
DoorDash, the food and grocery delivery platform, will pay $131.5 million to settle claims that it underpaid delivery workers in New York City. The settlement was announced on Tuesday by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. City officials described the agreement as the largest worker compensation payout in the city's history.
Settlement Details and Payouts
Under the agreement, the vast majority of the funds will go to more than 260,000 delivery workers who were underpaid, went unpaid, or received late payments for deliveries made through DoorDash. In addition, the company will pay approximately $16 million in civil penalties and other expenses to New York City.
The settlement also establishes a new oversight mechanism designed to ensure that DoorDash complies with local wage laws governing delivery workers in the city.
"When a worker earns a wage, they deserve to get that wage—not tomorrow, not after a lawsuit, but on time and in full," Mamdani said. "DoorDash underpaid more than 260,000 workers, and today we are returning that money to them."
Company Response and Prior Infractions
DoorDash admitted to errors and stated that the company had "messed up."
"While these mistakes were unintentional, that does not make them right. We pride ourselves on DoorDash's operational excellence, and this was not excellent, nor was it acceptable to us. Couriers should receive their full pay, on time, every single time. We apologize to the couriers we let down," the company said in a statement.
According to DoorDash, many of the payment errors stemmed from technical glitches or occurred during complex scenarios, including deliveries that crossed city limits, multi-stop deliveries, and orders that were canceled or partially fulfilled.
This settlement follows a previous legal action regarding the company's payment policies in New York. Last year, DoorDash agreed to pay nearly $17 million to settle allegations that it unfairly used customer tips to subsidize base pay for delivery workers rather than allowing drivers to keep tips on top of their guaranteed wages.
