Lawsuit Alleges DoorDash Paid Drivers Less Than Promised, Withheld Overtime Wages

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A proposed class and collective action claims DoorDash has failed to properly pay drivers for every hour worked, much less the “high” hourly wages the food delivery platform touts in online job advertisements.

The 20-page lawsuit out of Arkansas claims delivery drivers, known as “dashers,” have often worked more than 40 hours per week without being paid time-and-a-half overtime wages for the hours they worked in excess of 40. The case also alleges DoorDash, despite soliciting potential drivers with the promise of high hourly wages, “manipulates” the workers’ profiles and performance metrics once they’ve signed on with the company so as to decrease the number of jobs available to them and, by extension, the amount of money they’re able to earn.

The plaintiff is a Greene County, Arkansas resident who claims to have worked for DoorDash within the past three years. Per the case, the plaintiff and other dashers were paid a blended hourly rate determined in part by the distance and duration of their deliveries.

The lawsuit claims it has been DoorDash’s “commonly applied practice” to not pay dashers for every hour worked and deny the individuals time-and-a-half overtime wages when they worked more than 40 hours in a week. According to the case, DoorDash “knew, or showed reckless disregard for,” whether its pay practices violated state and federal labor laws.

The filing goes on to allege that although DoorDash promised to pay drivers at a certain rate, the defendant “retained more of the pay than promised,” and thus failed to compensate workers at the allegedly promised rates.

The suit relays that the delivery jobs offered to dashers through the DoorDash app are dependent on certain the information in the workers’ profiles, including their location, means of transportation and performance metrics. Per the lawsuit, a driver’s “Dasher ratings” are based on their customer, job completion and job acceptance ratings, as well as their on-time or early rating. Drivers who achieve high performance metrics are eligible for “special incentives and benefits,” including freedom to choose when they drive (as opposed to being confined to a schedule) and prioritization for jobs, the case says.

The plaintiff alleges, however, that DoorDash manipulated his profile and metrics, and thereby caused the number of jobs for which he was eligible to “dramatically decrease.” 

Per the suit, DoorDash’s practice of changing a driver’s profile information and artificially deflating their performance metrics has caused workers to receive less compensation than promised in the platform’s advertisements.

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