Acting Supreme Court Justice for the Sate of New York, Judge Nicholas Moyne, has upheld the recently enacted New York City ordinance mandating a minimum wage for delivery workers. Effective July 12th the pay rate was raised from an average of $7.00 per hour to $17.96 per hour, but implementation was stayed pending an appeal. The legality of the ordinance was upheld and in addition Judge Moyne also rejected the contention that the law did not apply since the workers delivered food from restaurants directly to customers.
Major delivery companies, Uber, DoorDash and Grub Hub opposed the law claiming that delivery workers were independent contractors and were therefore not subject to the minimum wage law.
Expressing disappointment in the decision, DoorDash stated, “The city of New York insistence on forging ahead with an extreme pay rate will reduce opportunity and increase costs for all New Yorkers”