DoorDash will pay $131.5 million in NYC settlement covering more than 260,000 delivery workers

NEW YORK — DoorDash has agreed to a $131.5 million settlement with New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection over pay violations under the city’s delivery worker laws, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced Tuesday.

City officials say more than $115 million will go directly to workers and more than $16 million will cover civil penalties and costs. Relief is expected for more than 260,000 delivery workers who were underpaid, unpaid, or paid late. The city describes the deal as the largest worker settlement in New York City history and the largest settlement involving food delivery workers in the United States.

In a clip circulating widely on X, Mamdani framed the outcome as accountability after years of underpayment:

“DoorDash had underpaid more than 260K delivery workers across New York City. Today, after years of corporate greed and impunity, we are holding DoorDash to account. I am proud to announce that DoorDash will pay more than $131M, the largest settlement for food delivery workers ever secured in American municipal history and a landmark win for those who have been mistreated and abused for years with nowhere to turn.”

Watch the announcement:

DoorDash, in its own statement, apologized and said the mistakes were unintentional but “not acceptable.” The company said roughly 264,000 Dashers will receive a payment, including about 209,000 tied to missing or late pay. It broke the settlement down as about $12.3 million for underpaid or late payments, more than $83 million to resolve a dispute over how to calculate pay for time Dashers spend online between deliveries, and $16.7 million in fines to DCWP.

According to the city, DCWP’s investigation grew from worker complaints, including help from the Workers Justice Project, then expanded into a data-driven review of DoorDash pay records. Officials say workers who were not paid at all or were paid late will generally receive about 200% of what they were underpaid. A separate share of relief covers Minimum Pay Rate violations tied to how trip and on-call time was calculated.

Workers do not need to file a claim. The city says eligible workers will be contacted by email in late October at the address they used with DoorDash, with a chance to choose electronic payment or a mailed check. A smaller second round of payments is expected in early 2027. Details are at nyc.gov.

The settlement also adds monitoring meant to catch problems faster, including monthly data reports from DoorDash for three years and a worker-driven tool, developed with Workers Justice Project and the Workers’ Algorithm Observatory, so Dashers can share trip and earnings data with the city.

For Hudson County readers who Dash into New York City, the practical takeaway is simple: if you worked DoorDash trips covered by the city’s delivery rules in the settlement period, watch the email account tied to your Dasher profile. The city says payment notices will go out without a claim form.

Online reaction to the announcement was immediate. One widely shared post argued DoorDash would not have admitted the scope of the problem without Mamdani in office. Another called the speed of the city’s delivery-worker win both “remarkable” and “infuriating,” asking why earlier administrations said the same outcomes could not get done.