Attorney General Kwame Raoul has announced a settlement agreement with DoorDash valued at $11.25 million. The settlement, pending judicial approval, addresses allegations that DoorDash violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by misleading customers about how their tips would affect drivers' earnings.
"DoorDash encouraged customers to tip as much as possible, indicating that all of their tip would go to workers," stated Raoul. "Instead, DoorDash used tips to reduce the amount the company paid workers. By putting tips toward driver pay, DoorDash could get away with contributing as little as $1 toward a worker’s pay and allow tips to make up the rest. This settlement ensures tips from customers end up where they were intended to go: into the pockets of delivery drivers."
The Attorney General's office claims that rather than allowing drivers to retain their full tips in addition to their pay from DoorDash, the company utilized customer tips towards a guaranteed payment promised to drivers. Under this system, customer tips seldom increased a driver's earnings beyond reducing DoorDash's own payment contribution.
This practice was discontinued by DoorDash in 2019. The proposed settlement will provide relief for over 79,000 delivery workers in Illinois who were affected between July 2017 and September 2019. Additionally, it mandates that DoorDash maintain a compensation model where consumer tips do not influence its own payment contributions and requires transparent disclosures regarding its pay structure for both workers and customers.
Assistant Attorney General Samantha Kronk and Bureau Chief Alvar Ayala managed the case on behalf of Raoul’s Workplace Rights Bureau.
The Workplace Rights Bureau is committed to protecting employment rights within Illinois, especially those of vulnerable populations including immigrants. It investigates wage law violations and other significant employment issues while also proposing relevant legislation. Workers with concerns about wage violations are encouraged to contact Raoul’s Workplace Rights Hotline or submit complaints online in English or Spanish.