Restaurants Dragged In Without Consent
Investigators also accused DoorDash of boosting its offerings by listing restaurants that had no relationship with the company, advertising them as if they were partners. Meanwhile, customer tips allegedly subsidized DoorDash’s own payments to drivers — a practice the city said gave the company an unfair cost advantage.
The settlement divides the $18 million into several pools:
-
$3.25 million for restaurants that were listed without consent and remain unaffiliated.
-
$5.8 million in commission and marketing credits for restaurants currently on the platform.
-
Additional credits for eateries first listed without consent but later onboarded.
-
$4 million in DoorDash credits automatically applied to eligible Chicago customers starting Jan. 28.
-
$4.5 million reimbursing the city for legal fees.
-
$500,000 for Chicago-area drivers active as of September 2019, when DoorDash’s tip-offsetting practice was last used.
Settlement Closes Four-Year Saga Targeting DoorDash and Grubhub
The agreement closes a case launched against both DoorDash and Grubhub, accusing the companies of violating Chicago’s municipal code by advertising delivery services for restaurants without consent, escalating prices at checkout and including inflated menu pricing.
Central to the city’s claims was DoorDash’s misleading $1.50 “Chicago” fee — a charge that looked like a local tax but instead flowed entirely into DoorDash’s pockets.
Both DoorDash and Grubhub insisted they had been transparent about their terms and instead served as lifelines to restaurants and customers during the pandemic’s darkest months.
