- Louisiana AG Liz Murrill announced a settlement with Walmart to resolve allegations that the company deceived drivers and customers who participated in its Spark Driver program, which is used by Walmart to deliver goods to customers using “gig workers” via the Spark Driver app. The drivers can decide whether to accept offers to deliver orders based on Walmart’s statements about the base pay and tips a driver can expect to receive if they complete the job.
- This settlement resolves allegations that Walmart misrepresented pre-tip amounts, base pay, and incentive pay to drivers. While Walmart allegedly showed one offer to the driver, it would split or change parts of the order after the driver accepted the order resulting in the driver receiving less than the base pay or the full tip. Walmart also allegedly failed to pay drivers for earning incentives by failing to disclose the full incentive requirements. Additionally, Walmart allegedly deceived consumers into thinking that 100 percent of their tip would go to the drivers when the company didn’t always pass on the full tips to the drivers and in some cases kept them entirely.
- The settlement requires Walmart to implement an earnings verification program to help ensure drivers are paid the earnings and tips they were promised. Walmart is prohibited from modifying an offer for base and incentive pay or tips after the initial offer (except under limited circumstances. Walmart is now banned from misrepresenting earnings and other information included in the delivery offers to Spark drivers. The settlement requires the company to pay $1,051,682.22 to Louisiana.
- We previously reported in March that the FTC and 11 states had reached a settlement with Walmart to resolve allegations that the company deceived delivery drivers and consumers in violation of the FTC Act, Gramm-Leach-Biley Act, and state consumer protection laws involving the “Spark Driver” program.