San Francisco DA sues DoorDash for classifying supply staff as unbiased contractors
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Photo credit: DoorDash / File Photo
DoorDash is facing a lawsuit from San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin for “illegally misclassifying employees as independent contractors,” Boudin tweeted today. In the complaint, Boudin argues that DoorDash misclassified its employees and thereby engaged in unfair labor practices.
“Misclassification of workers results in the deprivation of the employment protections to which they are entitled by depriving workers of, among other things, minimum wage and overtime pay, unemployment insurance and protection from discrimination,” Boudin said in a press release. “[…] Now more than ever, given the COVID pandemic, we need to protect our workers, especially the essential workers who deliver food to us every day.”
In a statement to TechCrunch, DoorDash noted how it has supported its employees during the pandemic by providing them with safety equipment, telemedicine 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 harder for consumers to prepare “Food, groceries and other essentials are safe and reliable,” said Max Rettig, global head of public policy at DoorDash, in a statement. “We will fight to continue to offer Dashers the flexible earning opportunities they want during these challenging times.”
This lawsuit comes at a time when gig worker rights groups have called on companies like DoorDash, Uber, Lyft and Instacart to comply with AB 5. AB 5, which went into effect earlier this year, determines what type of workers can and cannot be classified as independent contractors.
The law codifies the ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles. In this case, the court applied the ABC test and held that Dynamex misclassified its employees as independent contractors.
Under the ABC test, for a hiring company to legally classify a worker as an independent contractor, it must demonstrate that the worker is not subject to the hiring company's control and direction, performs work outside the scope of the company's business, and does so on a regular basis independently founded business or a similar company. In the lawsuit, Boudin describes DoorDash as failing to meet the standards of the ABC test.
“DoorDash’s misclassification of its Dashers was not a mistake, but rather a calculated decision to reduce the cost of doing business at the expense of the workers who provide the company’s core service of delivering goods from merchant to customer,” the lawsuit says Conditions.
The lawsuit seeks to have DoorDash stop classifying its employees as independent contractors and be fined up to $2,500 for each violation and up to $2,500 for each violation involving a senior or disabled person.
DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, Postmates and Instacart are sponsoring a ballot measure aimed at allowing them to classify workers as independent contractors. Meanwhile, Uber and Lyft face a misclassification lawsuit from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and city attorneys from Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
This lawsuit argues that Uber and Lyft deprive workers of the right to minimum wage, overtime, access to paid sick leave, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, seeks a $2,500 penalty for each violation, possibly per driver, under California's unfair competition law and an additional $2,500 for violations involving seniors or people with disabilities.
