New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the settlement the city’s largest labor enforcement action. The agreement advances the city’s efforts to hold food delivery companies accountable under a 2023 law aimed at improving pay for delivery workers.
DoorDash will provide nearly $115 million in compensation to about 264,000 workers, known as Dashers, with a median payment of around $48. The company will also pay a $16.7 million civil fine.
"Simply put, we screwed up," DoorDash said in a statement. The company said its mistakes resulted in some workers being underpaid or paid late, adding that although the errors were not intentional, they were unacceptable.
The settlement includes $83 million to resolve a dispute over how pay should be calculated for workers who were logged into the company’s app but were not actively making deliveries. Another $12.3 million will cover payments that were missed or arrived days or weeks late.
DoorDash has also agreed to provide detailed pay data to New York City every month for three years as part of the settlement.
Mayor Criticizes DoorDash Algorithms
Speaking at a press conference, Mamdani said the settlement was part of a broader effort to hold delivery companies accountable. He accused DoorDash of failing to comply with the 2023 city law through what he described as "greedy algorithms."
"For years, DoorDash failed to count every hour worked by delivery workers," Mamdani said, arguing that the issue was not simply a rounding error or accidental mistake.
City officials declined to comment on whether Uber Eats and Grubhub are complying with the 2023 law.
Uber declined to comment, while Grubhub did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DoorDash said many of the errors involved deliveries that crossed city boundaries, had multiple pickup or drop-off locations, or were partially completed or canceled.
The company said other mistakes were caused by technical bugs or incomplete banking information provided by workers. DoorDash said it has fixed the technical problems that caused the payment errors.
DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub have faced several legal disputes with New York City, including challenges involving tipping laws and requirements concerning the sharing of customer data with restaurants.
