DoorDash has agreed to pay $131.5 million to settle a New York City investigation into how it paid delivery workers. City officials announced the deal on 22 September. More than $115 million of it goes directly to workers, according to the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and NBC News reports a $16.7 million fine on top.
What the city found
New York found three distinct failures. Some workers were not paid at all for deliveries they had completed. Others were paid late. And the company left trip time and on-call time out when it calculated whether pay met the city’s minimum, which is $22.13 an hour before tips.
The on-call issue is the bulk of the money. NBC News reports that $83 million resolves the dispute over paying workers who were logged in and waiting for orders, while $12.3 million covers payments that were missed or arrived late.
DoorDash did not dispute the substance. “Simply put, we screwed up,” the company said in a statement quoted by NBC News, adding that the mistakes were not intentional.
Who gets paid, and how much
The settlement covers work between 22 April 2022 and 28 June 2026, and about 260,000 workers (NBC News puts it at 264,000). Workers who were not paid, or were paid late, get about double what they were shorted, according to the city.
Most cheques will be modest. NBC News reports a median payout of about $48. The total is large because the workforce is large, not because the typical worker is owed a lot.
Nobody has to file a claim. The city says eligible workers will get a personalised email in late October at the address DoorDash has on file, and can choose electronic payment or a cheque. A second round of payments follows in early 2027 for some workers whose amounts are still being calculated.
What changes from here
The money is only part of it. DoorDash is signing up to a three-year compliance programme: it has to send the city monthly data, and workers will collect their own data through software developed with worker groups. That matters because this case was about pay that is worked out by an algorithm the worker cannot see.
This is not the end of the city’s dispute with delivery apps. Earlier this year it accused DoorDash and Uber Eats of using “design tricks” to deprive workers of more than $550 million in tips, NBC News reports. That is a separate matter from this settlement.
Claiming From the DoorDash NYC Settlement
How do I get money from the DoorDash NYC settlement?
You do not need to file a claim. New York City says eligible workers will receive a personalised email in late October and can choose electronic payment or a cheque.
How much will each DoorDash worker get?
It varies. NBC News reports a median payout of about $48, and workers who were unpaid or paid late receive about double what they were owed.
Sources
- Mayor Mamdani Wins Record $131.5 Million From DoorDash for Delivery Workers — NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
- DoorDash reaches $131.5M settlement with New York City over delivery workers’ pay — NBC News