• $10,000 for the Amazon driver with the most customer rewards
• Amazon allegedly withheld tips from drivers between 2016 and 2019
• District of Columbia seeks relief for injured parties
Tipping Amazon Drivers
The end of the year is a stressful time, especially for parcel services. Amazon drivers are no exception. That’s why the global online retailer has launched a new initiative that allows at least US Amazon customers to tip their delivery driver up to $5 at no cost to the customer. “Starting December 7th, whenever a customer says ‘Alexa, thank my driver,’ the driver who delivered their last package will be notified of the customer’s appreciation. And to celebrate this new feature, drivers will receive an additional $5 for every thank you they receive from customers at no cost to the customer,” Amazon said in a press release. This should apply to the first million rewards that the Internet giant receives. In addition, the top five drivers who receive the most customer rewards during the promotion period will be awarded an additional $10,000. They will receive an additional $10,000 as a donation to a charity of their choice.
Lawsuit against Amazon
However, the action was quickly followed by a lawsuit alleging that Amazon withdrew tips from their drivers, Fox Business reports. Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine is suing Amazon: the e-commerce magnate has been stealing tips from delivery drivers to subsidize its own labor costs for several years. The lawsuit alleges that between 2016 and 2019, Amazon “led consumers into believing that they were tipping their delivery drivers directly through Amazon’s online delivery portal and using those tips to offset the drivers’ wages by those paid by the drivers increase amounts set by consumers.” Instead, the company would have used the tips to “pay part of what Amazon had already promised its drivers – and thus subsidize Amazon’s labor costs,” according to the 17-page lawsuit. In 2019, Amazon discontinued this tipping model after the FTC opened an investigation in 2019, Winfuture explains.
Victims should be relieved
The District of Columbia is now demanding that the court rule in favor of the plaintiffs and that the injured parties be exonerated by Amazon. “If a company is caught stealing from its workers, it is not enough to pay back the amount stolen. Stealing from workers is theft and substantial penalties are required to provide a strong deterrent to this unlawful conduct,” the lawsuit reads . Amazon has not yet commented on the legal proceedings as of mid-December.
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