DC has $1.95M to compensate Drizly drivers

The D.C. Office of the Attorney General has announced a $1.95 million compensation fund for certain Drizly drivers, as part of a settlement with the company over allegations that tips meant for drivers weren’t paid.

The compensation is available to any eligible Drizly driver who made deliveries from any retail store in the District between Jan. 1, 2019 and Nov. 14, 2022. Eligible drivers will receive $6.75 for each delivery they can document.

Claims must be submitted online by July 9.



The November settlement with Drizly resolved allegations that the company passed on tips, intended by consumers for drivers, instead to retail stores they delivered from — with no requirement on the part of retail store owners to pass those tips on to drivers.

Last week, D.C. announced a similar settlement over deceptive fee and tip practices by Instacart.

In addition to the driver compensation fund, Drizly also agreed to an additional $3.2 million in sales taxes and interest the Attorney General accused the company of failing to pay on service and delivery fees, and $750,000 to compensate the District for costs associated with its investigation.

Drizly also agreed to stop describing gratuity funds collected through its app as tips and agreed to no longer present a pre-selected gratuity option at checkout.

A copy of the settlement is available online.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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