NYC Sues Delivery App Over Lost Pay in New Mamdani Crackdown

Описание: New York City said it’s suing a food-delivery technology provider for withholding pay from workers, signaling Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s get-tough approach to regulating app-based work. 
Motoclick violated delivery worker laws by failing to pay the required minimum rate and by deducting canceled and refunded orders directly from workers’ paychecks, the city said in a statement Thursday. The practices allegedly left some couriers owing money to the company, which says it works with platforms such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub. 
“Motoclick and its CEO tricked New Yorkers into working for their platform with false promises and then stole their tips and earnings, sometimes even driving workers into debt,” said Samuel A.A. Levine, the city’s consumer and worker protection commissioner. He said other delivery apps “should be on notice.” Bloomberg's Myles Miller reports.

The lawsuit — filed in New York State Supreme Court against Motoclick and its head, Juan Pablo Salinas Salek — adds to a broader compliance push aimed at New York’s booming app-based delivery industry. City officials said Motoclick and Salinas Salek owe workers millions of dollars in unpaid wages and damages. 
Motoclick and its attorneys didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 
Levine said his agency had also sent notices to major food-delivery platforms including Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub and Instacart, warning them to comply with new worker protections taking effect later this month. The safeguards include rules on tipping, pay transparency, minimum pay eligibility and timely weekly payments.
In a report earlier this week, the city accused DoorDash and Uber Eats of depriving delivery workers of more than $550 million in tips after changing the interfaces on their apps. DoorDash called the report “flat-out wrong.”

City officials said they’re seeking to shut down Motoclick entirely, an unusually severe step that underscored the administration’s commitment to stricter enforcement.
“City Hall does not desire to have an adversarial relationship with any business operating in our city,” Mamdani told reporters. “To those, however, who think they can make a profit while stealing from their workers while breaking the law, make no mistake: We will have those workers backs each and every time.”
Mamdani announced the lawsuit with Levine and Julie Su, the deputy mayor for labor and workforce development, as well as with labor advocates. Su previously served as acting US labor secretary in the Biden administration, while Levine led enforcement at the Federal Trade Commission.
Their appointments reflect a broader governing philosophy Mamdani has embraced since taking office, one shaped in part by the advice of Lina Khan, the former chair of the FTC. Khan has argued that cities often possess dormant or underused legal authority that can be deployed quickly to regulate powerful companies, particularly in sectors where technology and pricing systems shape workers’ pay.
Khan has said that food delivery companies warrant scrutiny not only for wage levels but for the design of the systems that govern how work is assigned, tracked and compensated, an approach that city officials said informed their decision to move aggressively against Motoclick. 


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