{"id":39473,"date":"2026-01-30T17:21:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T17:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=39473"},"modified":"2026-01-30T17:21:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T17:21:29","slug":"mayor-mamdani-announces-5-million-settlement-reinstatement-of-as-many-as-10000-wrongfully-deactivated-food-delivery-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/39473","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Mamdani announces $5 million settlement, reinstatement of as many as 10,000 wrongfully deactivated food delivery workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Sam Levine announced more than $5 million in worker restitution and penalties secured\u00a0from three major restaurant delivery app companies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Uber Eats,\u00a0Fantuan, and\u00a0HungryPanda\u00a0will pay a combined $5,195,000 in restitution, civil penalties, and damages to more than 49,000 food delivery workers to resolve violations of the City\u2019s Minimum Pay Rate for delivery workers.<\/p>\n

Uber has also agreed to reinstate workers who were wrongfully deactivated between December 2023 and September 2024, which may\u00a0impact\u00a0as many as 10,000 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first month of this administration, our city has made one thing unmistakably clear: there is zero tolerance for exploiting workers, cutting corners on labor protections, or rigging our economy to serve wealthy corporations at the expense of working people,\u201d said\u00a0Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis settlement\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0just deliver real relief to thousands of New Yorkers\u2014it draws a red line for corporate abuse. If you break the law and profit from exploitation, you will be held accountable,\u00a0swiftly\u00a0and directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe era of giant corporations juicing profits by underpaying workers is over,\u201d\u00a0said DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud that this agency is not only returning full back\u00a0pay, but\u00a0is recovering damages and penalties to send a strong message that cheating workers will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uber Eats will pay $3,150,000 in restitution to more than 48,000 workers citywide and $350,000 in civil penalties and fees.<\/p>\n

DCWP\u2019s investigation found that Uber Eats\u00a0failed to\u00a0pay workers the minimum pay rate between December 2023 and September 2024 for time spent on canceled trips.<\/p>\n

Fantuan\u00a0will pay more than $468,000 in restitution to 285 workers citywide and more than $52,000 in civil penalties and fees.<\/p>\n

DCWP\u2019s investigation found that\u00a0Fantuan\u00a0failed to\u00a0pay workers the minimum pay rate between December 2023 and February 2024.\u00a0HungryPanda\u00a0will pay $1,068,672 in restitution to more than 1,000 workers citywide and more than $106,327 in civil penalties and fees. DCWP\u2019s investigation found that\u00a0HungryPanda\u00a0failed to\u00a0pay workers the minimum pay rate between December 2023 and January 2024.<\/p>\n

These cases\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0the success of DCWP\u2019s innovative compliance monitoring systems, which allow the agency to\u00a0identify\u00a0and stop violations quickly. By pairing the apps\u2019 monthly reporting obligations with direct and targeted engagement with workers, DCWP\u00a0is able to\u00a0quickly\u00a0identify\u00a0and correct violations of law. Through enforcement, DCWP ensures that affected workers receive the money apps owe them, plus an\u00a0additional\u00a0amount to compensate for the violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York will not stand by while large corporations break the law and take advantage of the working class. The minimum pay rate exists because workers deserve dignity, stability, and fair pay. I want to thank Mayor Mamdani and DCWP Commissioner Levine for enforcing our Delivery Worker Laws and standing with\u00a0Deliveristas,\u201d said\u00a0State Senator Kristen Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI applaud the work of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and Mayor Mamdani. Today is a victory for working-class New Yorkers over corporate greed,\u201d said\u00a0Council Member Harvey Epstein, Chair, Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, delivery companies have\u00a0operated\u00a0a model that preys on vulnerable workers, particularly within immigrant communities, by stealing tips and violating minimum wage laws. This settlement marks the beginning of a new era. The days of multibillion-dollar corporations profiting off the backs of their workers are over. In their first month in office, the mayor is\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0their commitment to standing up for workers at every turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the City Council passes a law to protect workers, we mean it. Mayor Mamdani and DCWP are taking enforcement seriously, and workers are going to see the difference in their pockets,\u201d said\u00a0Council Member Shaun Abreu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe $5 million dollar settlement over violations of the minimum wage law sends a message to the apps that we are holding them accountable and will make sure that\u00a0deliveristas\u00a0receive every cent they\u2019ve earned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI applaud DCWP\u2019s relentless work holding companies like Uber accountable for stealing wages from their workers,\u201d said\u00a0Council Member Sandy Nurse.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeliveristas\u00a0are an essential part of our city\u2019s workforce, and the Council and City Hall are committed to protecting their rights and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe laws we make are only as good as the administration and agencies that choose to enforce them. Make no mistake, this $5 million settlement is the result of delivery workers organizing, the City Council passing strong minimum pay protections, and an enforcement apparatus willing to hold powerful companies accountable. This is what it looks like when government does its job: workers are respected, bad actors are penalized, and the law\u00a0actually means\u00a0something,\u201d said\u00a0Council Member Jen Gutierrez.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis settlement is a turning point for delivery workers and for justice in this industry,\u201d\u00a0said Ligia Guallpa, Executive Director of Worker\u2019s Justice Project and Co-Founder of its Los\u00a0Deliveristas\u00a0Unidos.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, app companies treated the law as optional \u2013 hiding behind algorithms, stealing wages, and deactivating workers without consequence. The scale of these abuses proves what\u00a0deliveristas\u00a0have been saying for years: exploitation is not an accident \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0baked into the app delivery business model. But today\u2019s victory also clearly shows that those days are over.\u00a0We’re\u00a0grateful and proud to stand with Mayor Mamdani and Commissioner Levine in sending a clear message to every app company: workers are organized, the\u00a0City\u00a0is watching, and when you break the law, there will be real consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

This announcement comes as the Mamdani administration ramps up efforts to crack down on predatory delivery apps, reverse worker losses through aggressive enforcement of the Delivery\u00a0Worker Laws, and\u00a0hold companies and individuals accountable for ripping off the hardworking, majority-immigrant\u00a0deliveristas\u00a0of this city.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Commissioner Levine announced a lawsuit against Motoclick\u00a0and sent compliance warnings to over 60 companies including Instacart, DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber, and other app companies, warning them to adhere to expanded delivery worker protection laws that recently went into effect.<\/p>\n

This includes Local Law\u00a0113,\u00a0which increases delivery worker pay transparency; Local Laws\u00a0123\u00a0and\u00a0124, which expand the minimum pay rate to cover third-party grocery delivery workers, give timely and weekly payment rights to more contracted delivery workers, and improve bathroom access for contracted delivery workers; and Local Laws\u00a0107\u00a0and\u00a0108, which require restaurant and grocery apps to offer a tipping option at checkout. As a report\u00a0DCWP released earlier this month revealed, DoorDash and Uber engineered design tricks in their interfaces that lowered workers\u2019 tip earnings by $550 million. Those tricks are now illegal.<\/p>\n

The City’s pioneering Minimum Pay Rate Rule\u00a0established\u00a0by\u00a0Local Law 115 of 2021, dramatically increased average hourly earnings for app-based delivery workers without reducing deliveries.<\/p>\n

The MPR will increase to $22.13 for the first pay period on or after April 1, 2026. The $22.13 rate reflects a 3.2% adjustment for inflation between December 2024 and December 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Sam Levine announced more than $5 million in worker restitution and penalties secured\u00a0from three major restaurant delivery app companies. Uber Eats,\u00a0Fantuan, and\u00a0HungryPanda\u00a0will pay a combined $5,195,000 in restitution, civil penalties, and damages to more than 49,000 food delivery workers to resolve violations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39475,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39473\/revisions\/39475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}