NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine announced a historic $131.5 million enforcement action against DoorDash for systematic violations of New York City’s Delivery Worker Laws.
The settlement will deliver more than $115 million directly to delivery workers and more than $16 million in civil penalties and costs. It will provide relief to more than 260,000 workers who were underpaid by DoorDash, including workers who were not paid at all or were paid late for work they had already performed.
This is the largest worker settlement in New York City history and the largest settlement involving food delivery workers in the United States.
“When a worker earns a wage, they deserve to be paid that wage not tomorrow, not after a lawsuit, but on time and in full,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani.
“DoorDash underpaid more than 260,000 workers, and today we are getting that money back. This is what it looks like when City government stands with working people: We find the violations, we enforce the law and we make sure workers get what they’re owed. No corporation is above the law, and this administration will keep fighting until every worker gets the pay and protections they deserve.”
“The size of this settlement shows the damage done to workers by wage theft. But it also shows that enforcement matters. And in this administration, if you steal workers’ wages, it’s not enough to just pay what you should have paid in the first place. After this, DoorDash workers will also have the power to protect their rights going forward through the new compliance monitoring program,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su.
“We know that giving workers power in the workplace to protect themselves is critical and this settlement does just that.”
The action builds on the Mamdani administration’s broader effort to vigorously enforce the laws that protect delivery workers. The administration has already secured more than $104 million in additional tips and $725 million in increased wages for delivery workers since January.
“Today, New York City’s delivery workers are showing that opaque algorithms will not have the final word when it comes to how much they are paid for the hard work they do,” said DCWP Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine.
“With this record-breaking settlement and innovative compliance monitoring strategy, the Mamdani administration is demonstrating what it looks like to build an economy that puts working people first.”
The settlement is about more than recovering money that workers are owed. It also puts in place a new monitoring system ensuring DoorDash follows the law going forward – one that gives workers a direct role in identifying violations and gives the City data it needs to act quickly.
DCWP is partnering with Workers Justice Project and the Workers’ Algorithm Observatory to develop software that will allow workers to share their DoorDash trip and earnings data directly with the agency. The new worker-driven compliance system will give DCWP an independent way to identify underpayment and other violations rather than waiting for workers to discover problems after they have occurred.
