Delivery Drivers Sue Amazon Over Pay

Four former delivery drivers for Amazon Prime Now, Amazon’s service to provide same day, timed deliveries (one-to two-hour delivery), have sued their former employer claiming that the company classified them as “independent contractors” and denied the benefits and protections of California employment law.

The drivers are hired by Amazon through another company Scoobeez, Inc., which is also named as a defendant in the case.

The four plaintiffs – Taree Truong, Khaleed Alkojak, Olga Georgieva and Cynthia Miller, come from Orange County and Victorville, and they worked for Amazon's warehouse in Irvine, California. Drivers there were originally paid $11 per hour, plus $2.50 per delivery, however, a new contract signed in last month dropped the $2.50 per delivery fee, ARS Technica reported.

"Amazon’s mission to deliver ‘Now’ at no additional cost to its customers is being funded by the delivery drivers," said Beth Ross of Oakland-based Leonard Carder LLP, who represents the plaintiffs. "Unlike the drones that Amazon hopes to eventually replace them with, these drivers are human beings with rent to pay and families to feed."

Moreover, the drivers have to take care of their own insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs, and they don't get workers' compensation insurance. As they are not classified as “employees”, they also don't get legally mandated meal breaks or overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week.

Worse still, they can be assigned to drive as many as 100 miles or more in a day for which they receive no mileage reimbursement. The guidelines for deliveries are also strict as they are instructed that they cannot deliver “two minutes early or two minutes late.”

“Plaintiffs cannot reject work assignments, nor can they request that their deliveries be restricted to a particular geographic area. Plaintiffs who do not follow Defendants’ rules or instructions are subject to discipline up to and including termination”, the complaint reads.

The document further says that while Amazon guarantees its customers that “your entire tip goes to your courier”, the App does not allow the drivers to see if or how much they were tipped for any given delivery, nor are Plaintiffs provided a summary or itemized report of their tips.

"I never see an accounting of what tips I receive, because everything is paid through an app," plaintiff Taree Truong said in a statement from her law firm. "I have no way of knowing whether or not I have been paid what I am due."

The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed Tuesday in California state court against Amazon, as well as courier service Scoobeez and its parent company ABT Holdings, Recode reported.