Grubhub Just Paid $25 Million for Misclassifying Workers. Does Your Business Have the Same Problem?

It took eleven years.

In September 2015, a single Grubhub delivery driver named Raef Lawson filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that Grubhub had misclassified him as an independent contractor when he should have been treated as an employee. The case wound through a decade of litigation, multiple appeals, shifting legal standards, and five formal mediation conferences.

In early 2026, Grubhub agreed to pay $24.75 million to settle. The class covers approximately 60,000 California delivery drivers who completed at least one Grubhub delivery between December 2014 and March 2026. The final approval hearing is scheduled for July 30, 2026.