San Francisco's District Attorney is Suing DoorDash

Doordash has recently found themselves in the same “sinking” boat as Uber and Lyft after being faced with a lawsuit from the San Francisco district attorney over possibly mis-classifying its workers as contractors rather than employees.

The lawsuit is stemming from multiple accusations that the company failed to provide delivery workers with proper financial protection during the pandemic. District Attorney Boudin, stated that calling employees contractors “deprives them of the labor law safeguards to which they are entitled, denying workers minimum wage and overtime pay, unemployment insurance and protection from discrimination, among other things.”

DoorDash, has refuted these claims saying that they have indeed done a lot to help their workers during this troubling time, including providing safety equipment and telemedicine. Unfortunately, the lack of employment benefits such as health care and paid time off left many DoorDash drivers in a tough spot. Taking time off during the pandemic to protect their health was not really an option and many drivers felt the need to continue working even if they had Covid-19 symptoms.

This lawsuit also comes after the recent passage of California’s AB 5 law last year, which mandates which workers can and cannot be classified as contractors rather than employees. Gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft have been heavily protesting this law and trying to find any possible way to exclude their drivers from being classified as employees.