Walmart Spark Drivers Lawsuit Alternative: Underpaid? No Minimum Wage or Overtime?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org believe Walmart may have misclassified Spark drivers as independent contractors instead of employees—and they’re now gathering drivers to sign up for legal action.

Specifically, the attorneys suspect that Spark drivers may not meet the criteria under federal and state laws to be classified as independent contractors since Walmart exercises significant control over their work and has them perform services that are central to the mega retailer’s business.

By classifying drivers as contractors instead of employees, Walmart may have illegally denied them certain employment benefits and protections, including minimum wage for all hours worked, overtime pay, paid leave, health coverage, retirement contributions, and reimbursement for expenses like gas, vehicle maintenance, insurance, parking and tolls, and phone/data charges.

The attorneys also suspect that Walmart may have violated certain drivers’ rights by requiring them to receive their paychecks through a Branch account—thereby delaying access to their wages and causing them to be charged a fee to transfer their funds.

Are Spark Drivers Independent Contractors or Employees?

Under federal and state labor laws, workers are generally considered independent contractors if they are in business for themselves and have the freedom to make independent decisions about how their work will be performed.

On the other hand, bona fide employees are generally subject to the control of their employers and are entitled to certain protections, including guaranteed minimum wages for all hours worked, time-and-a-half overtime pay, reimbursement of business expenses and other benefits.

There are several different tests that are used to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee—but most assess the degree of control the employer exercises over the worker’s job.

In this case, the attorneys suspect that Spark drivers may be employees since Walmart controls the most important aspects of the relationship, including by requiring Spark drivers to adhere to certain policies and rules and restricting their ability to set prices, negotiate pay and build their own customer base.

Further, the attorneys believe Spark drivers’ performance of delivery services is central to Walmart’s business and does not require specialized skill—another indication that they should be treated as employees instead of contractors.

Walmart Spark Drivers Lawsuit

In October 2023, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed against Walmart and subsidiary Delivery Drivers, Inc. (DDI) on behalf of Spark drivers in Washington who were allegedly misclassified as independent contractors.

According to the case, Walmart and DDI violated Washington law by failing to pay Spark drivers for all hours worked, including time spent driving between locations, waiting for orders to be ready, making returns or troubleshooting the Spark Driver mobile app. Spark drivers were also denied time-and-a-half overtime wages when they worked more than 40 hours per week and were not reimbursed for business expenses like gas, tires, maintenance, insurance and cell phone charges, the lawsuit alleged.

The case claimed that Walmart set the terms and conditions of Spark drivers’ employment and “substantially restricted” how they were to perform their jobs, including by:

• Imposing requirements on the condition of their vehicles
• Prohibiting them from subcontracting their services to others
• Requiring them to meet certain levels of service
• Requiring them to follow instructions in the Spark app for how and when deliveries were to be made
• Restricting how many orders they could accept and then drop
• Prohibiting them from having young children as passengers or accepting rideshare passengers while performing services for Walmart

The Walmart Spark driver lawsuit was sent to arbitration in June 2024, and the parties asked the court to dismiss the case in January 2025, indicating that they had reached a settlement.

Is This a Lawsuit? What Am I Signing Up For, Exactly?

You are not signing up for a lawsuit, but rather a process known as mass arbitration. This is a relatively new legal technique that, like a class action lawsuit, allows a large group of people to take action and seek compensation from a company over an alleged wrongdoing. Here is a quick explanation of mass arbitration from our blog:

“[M]ass arbitration occurs when hundreds or thousands of consumers file individual arbitration claims against the same company over the same issue at the same time. The aim of a mass arbitration proceeding is to grant relief on a large scale (similar to a class action lawsuit) for those who sign up.”

The Spark driver dispute resolution agreement contains both a class action waiver and an arbitration clause requiring drivers to resolve disputes via arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution that takes place outside of court before a neutral arbitrator, as opposed to a judge or jury. It’s for this reason that attorneys working with ClassAction.org have decided to handle this matter as a mass arbitration rather than a class action lawsuit.

How Much Does This Cost?

It costs nothing to sign up, and you’ll only need to pay if the attorneys win money on your behalf. Their payment will come as a percentage of your award.

If they don’t win your claim, you don’t pay.

How Much Money Could I Get?

There are no guarantees as to how much money you could get or whether your claim will be successful. However, Spark drivers may be able to recover money for unpaid wages, business expenses and other employment benefits they may have been denied.

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