Dozens of app-workers gathered outside DoorDash’s Fifth Avenue headquarters Wednesday morning to deliver a clear message: pay up.
The workers, organized by Los Deliveristas Unidos, claim DoorDash has resolved less than half of the wage theft cases they filed in November 2024. Workers Justice Project, which organizes delivery workers, says that DoorDash has only resolved around 30 of the 95 wage theft cases that were originally lodged with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).
In addition to the unresolved cases, workers have filed an additional 50 wage theft complaints with the DCWP. They’re also claiming that DoorDash has continued to arbitrarily deactivate workers mid-shift, without providing any explanations or outstanding payments, and has violated city law around tip transparency.
Also Read: DoorDash to Pay Millions of Workers’ Stolen Tips, New York Attorney General Says
According to the DCWP, since 2022, the agency has received more than 300 complaints from delivery workers about DoorDash violating city law that requires delivery apps to pay workers at least once a week. The law also requires that the delivery apps inform workers how much a customer tipped them for each delivery, as well as their total pay and tips for the previous day.
Immigrant worker Daniel Montiel, 30, began delivering for DoorDash this year, but says the company deactivated him without cause and owes him $3,841 in wages for days he worked in March. He is one of the 50 workers to file claims with DCWP. A single father to a young son, Montiel says his unpaid wages have taken a financial and emotional toll.
“Every day that I go unpaid, my family suffers,” he said. “This isn’t just unfair, it’s inhumane. DoorDash is holding back money I earned with my labor. I worked in good faith. I deserve to be paid. We all do.”
Another immigrant delivery worker, Ingrid Rojas, 34, says DoorDash deactivated her without any explanation in 2022 and is still owed $1,000 in back wages.
“I gave everything to this job,” she said. “I rode through snow, rain, the pandemic — risked my life every day to deliver food so others could stay safe. I did it because I needed to provide for my two kids. I’m a single mom. DoorDash was my only job, my only income.”
“DCWP is committed to protecting the rights of all workers, regardless of immigration status, and we depend on workers coming forward to hold employers accountable for violating the law,” Michael Lanza, DCWP press secretary, told Documented. “We continue to investigate DoorDash for widespread violations of the city’s law requiring third-party delivery apps to pay workers on time and in full, and we urge any workers with questions or complaints to reach out to us as soon as possible.”
Also Read: Over 90 Delivery Workers Claim DoorDash Stole Their Wages
On Tuesday, Council Member Shaun Abreu voiced his support for the workers and condemned DoorDash for their alleged unscrupulous business practices.
“The stories I’ve heard from deliveristas are not isolated incidents; they’re the result of a business model that thrives on exploitation,” he said in a statement. “DoorDash has made a habit of wage theft, locking workers out of their accounts, and hiding how they calculate pay. That ends now. I stand with Los Deliveristas Unidos in demanding justice, transparency, and fair pay.”
It’s not the first time DoorDash has been accused of wage theft. In 2023, THE CITY reported that the delivery app stole $22,000 in wages from 13 workers, ultimately paying the workers the owed wages. A similar case played out in Illinois, where DoorDash agreed to pay $11.25 million to about 80,000 Illinois DoorDash delivery workers for a wage theft scheme it conducted between 2017 and 2019.
Last year, Documented reported that 95 delivery workers filed claims with DCWP, alleging that DoorDash failed to pay them for their back wages after they were deactivated. Earlier this year, DoorDash reached a $16.75 million settlement with the New York Attorney General’s office for misleading both consumers and delivery workers on how tips were being distributed to workers.
When asked about allegations that the company arbitrarily deactivates workers mid-shift, without providing final payments, Eli Scheinholtz, spokesperson for DoorDash, said there could be many reasons for delayed payments, such as a worker not complying with DoorDash’s policies or requests.
“Our policies for paying Dashers in New York City are based on the city’s minimum pay rules, plain and simple,” he told Documented. “There should be no problem issuing payments unless someone fails to provide necessary information, provides inaccurate information, or is attempting to abuse the platform.”
In addressing the Worker’s Justice Project, he pushed back on their claims: “Any group that keeps us from helping Dashers, especially one with a history of making false claims and baseless allegations, only ends up delaying that process, perhaps because they know they have broken our rules. If a Dasher ever has an issue, we encourage them to reach out to our dedicated Support team so that we can quickly and directly address their concerns.”
