San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin sues DoorDash for ‘unlawful misclassification’ of employees as unbiased contractors
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin today filed an unfair business practices lawsuit against food delivery service DoorDash, which has consistently classified its employees as independent contractors rather than employees, contrary to California law.
“I assure you that this is just the first step of many to fight for worker safety and equal enforcement of the laws,” Boudin said at the virtual press conference today. This lawsuit is being led by Assistant District Attorney Scott Stillman's White Collar Crimes Against Employees Unit – “and I did not bring ADA Stillman into the office to file a single lawsuit,” Boudin continued.
No messages were returned for DoorDash as of press time.
Today's lawsuit was filed at Section 17200 of the State Business and Professions Codewhat applies to ““Any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent commercial act.” Either a prosecutor or a prosecutor can take action under this code – and in fact, in May, Attorney General Dennis Herrera, along with colleagues in Los Angeles and San Diego, filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft for their Employees had allegedly miscategorized.
According to the California Supreme Court decision: “Dynamex” decision of April 2018, a three-point test was established to determine whether workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors.
No reasonable interpretation of this ruling could result in Doordash workers—or Uber and Lyft drivers, or many others—being classified as anything other than employees.
In April 2019, it was revealed that DoorDash was applying the tips DoorDash had given its employees to their base wages instead of serving as tips – which led to this A complaint is filed against the company with the city's Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement.
In September 2019, the “Dynamex” decision was essentially codified as law under AB5, authored by Rep. Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego).
“When you think of theft, you don’t often think of wage theft,” said Gonzalez, who took part in today’s virtual press conference. “If an employee stole from his boss, he would go to prison. But employers steal from their employees in large quantities every day.”
By misclassifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees, companies can avoid paying the minimum wage, providing mandatory breaks, and providing health care or sick days. Workers in such conditions are subsidized by the social safety net, which in turn is subsidized by taxpayers and law-abiding corporations.
“DoorDash has a long history of being an exploitative employer,” Veena Dubal, a labor law professor at UC Hastings, told Mission Local. “Like Uber, the company’s business model is based on the fiction that its employees are independent contractors. This means that the people whose work led to the company’s sky-high valuation will not have access to a wage floor, workers’ compensation in the event of an injury, or unemployment insurance if they are fired through no fault of their own.”
During the ongoing pandemic, Dubal continued, these workers have continued to be classified as “essential” and have “risked their lives to deliver food from restaurants to families in lockdown.”
“DoorDash has vigorously fought the employment claims of its delivery drivers,” Dubal said. “This lawsuit today – filed by the San Francisco District Attorney – puts the state’s weight behind these allegations.”
DoorDash Complaint by Joe Eskenazi on Scribd
Update, 2:20 p.m.: A statement from Max Rettig, DoorDash Global Head of Public Policy:
More than ever, Californians from all walks of life are looking to DoorDash for flexible earning opportunities, working an average of a few hours per week. Throughout the pandemic, DoorDash has supported Dashers on and off the road with free safety equipment, telemedicine, wage replacement and more. Today's action aims to disrupt Dashers' essential services, deprive hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, parents, retirees and other Californians of valuable job opportunities, deprive local restaurants of much-needed revenue, and make it more difficult for consumers to receive prepared food Store groceries, groceries and other essentials safely and reliably. We will fight to continue to offer Dashers the flexible earning opportunities they want during these challenging times.
If you would like to continue to employ us – and have not already done so – support us now.
