DC attorney general sues DoorDash for pocketing tips

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017, file photo, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine speaks at One Judiciary Square in Washington. Racine is suing DoorDash, saying the food delivery service pocketed tips that customers thought were going to delivery workers. Racine said Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, that DoorDash misled consumers who believed their tips would go to workers, not the company’s bottom line. He is hoping to recover millions of dollars in tip money and to impose civil penalties on the company. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

NEW YORK — The attorney general of Washington D.C. is suing DoorDash, saying the food delivery service pocketed tips that customers thought were going to delivery workers.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said Tuesday that DoorDash misled consumers who believed their tips would go to workers, not the company’s bottom line. He is hoping to recover millions of dollars in tip money and to impose civil penalties on the company.

DoorDash says the accusations are without merit. The delivery company changed its pay structure in August and says workers are earning more money under the new system. DoorDash says it worked with an independent third party to verify that all tips are paid to its delivery workers.

Racine began investigating how DoorDash pays delivery workers after media reports surfaced about its tipping practices.

Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press