DoorDash breaks silence as Mamdani announces $131M settlement for underpaid workers: 'We screwed up...'

DoorDash has admitted it “screwed up” and has agreed to pay $131.5 million to settle a New York City investigation that found the company underpaid or delayed payments to more than 264,000 delivery workers. The settlement, announced Tuesday, includes nearly $115 million in worker relief, a $16.7 million civil penalty, and three years of city monitoring.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the agreement with DoorDash as the largest labor enforcement action in the city’s history. (Stephanie Augello/Getty Images/AFP)New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the agreement as the largest labor enforcement action in the city’s history.

He accused DoorDash of using “greedy algorithms” that failed to comply with the city’s 2023 minimum-pay law for app-based delivery workers.

In his post on X, Mamdani wrote, “DoorDash has ripped off more than 260,000 NYC delivery workers. We’re making them pay $131.5 million, the largest worker settlement in City history. This is New York, where hard work pays and greed will cost you.”

“For years, DoorDash failed to count every hour worked by delivery workers,” the mayor said. “This was not a rounding error or an accidental mistake.” He added that the settlement reflects the city’s commitment to holding delivery platforms accountable for complying with worker protection laws.

DoorDash acknowledged mistakes and has since said it has since corrected the technical problems that led to the errors.

In a statement, they wrote, "Simply put, we screwed up. Our mistakes meant some Dashers were underpaid or paid late. While these mistakes weren’t intentional, that doesn’t make them okay.”

According to city officials, approximately 264,000 Dashers who delivered food in New York City will share nearly $115 million in compensation. Reuters reported that the median payout will be about $48, although individual payments will vary depending on each worker’s circumstances.

The largest portion of the settlement, about $83 million, resolves allegations that DoorDash incorrectly calculated pay for workers who remained logged into the app while waiting for delivery requests. Under New York City’s 2023 delivery worker protections, companies must compensate workers according to specific pay standards, including certain waiting periods.

According to Reuters, another $12.3 million addresses payments that were either missed entirely or arrived days or even weeks after they were due. DoorDash said many of these problems stemmed from technical bugs, deliveries crossing city boundaries, incomplete banking information, partially completed deliveries and cancelled orders. The company said those issues have now been fixed.

As part of the agreement, DoorDash will also submit monthly payroll data to New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for the next three years to ensure compliance with labor laws.

Shirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues. Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience. Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences. With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues. Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature.Read More