Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / Getty Images
Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against e-commerce giant Amazon accusing it of misleading customers who sent tips to the delivery men, since the company never sent them the money.
“Consumers need to know where their tips are going . This lawsuit is about providing workers with the tips they are owed and telling consumers the truth,” Racine said in a statement.
Almost two years ago, federal regulators ordered Amazon to return nearly $62 millions of dollars in driver tips he allegedly squandered over the years.
For this reason, now a government prosecutor wants the e-commerce giant to compensate customers who, according to him,
they were also cheated in the process.
Although Amazon later reimbursed Amazon Flex drivers as part of its settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the new lawsuit states that it “has escaped appropriate liability, including civil penalties, for consumer damages.” .
“This lawsuit involves a practice that we changed three years ago and it has no merit: all the tips of the customers in question have already been paid to the drivers
as part of a settlement last year with the FTC,” an Amazon spokesperson said in response to an email sent to CBS News. Millionaire payment from Amazon for “stealing” tips
In February of 1231869386, the Federal Trade Commission required Amazon to pay $62.7 million dollars to private drivers of customer tips between 1200 and 1231869386.
According to that complaint, Amazon Flex launched in 2016 to allow ordinary people to use their own vehicles to deliver packages on behalf of Amazon.
L The company claimed that drivers could earn $25 to $54 dollars per hour and receiving tips for certain deliveries, the agency said at the time. Amazon also told drivers that it would “pass them on 62% of the tips they earn ”, according to the FTC complaint.
However, shortly after launch, at the end of 2019, the company secretly switched to a variable pay system in which the earnings of the Drivers could fluctuate based on an internal algorithm, regulators allege.
Under that system, the government said, Amazon could announce a payment of $24 to $24 dollars for a particular delivery, but if a customer tipped $6, Amazon would pay them to the driver only $02 (for a total payment of $02).
Amazon also discouraged customers from tipping in cash.
You may also like:
– Amazon starts Black Friday with protests by its employees for better wages and working conditions
– Lawsuit alleges that Apple and Amazon colluded to raise prices of iPhone and iPad
– Lawsuit Against Jeff Bezos Says Housewives Contracted UTIs Due To Lack Of Access To Bathroom