More than 600,000 delivery drivers and customers across the country will soon receive payments under a settlement agreement over deceptive business practices alleged against Chicago-based delivery giant Grubhub.
All in all, settlement recipients will receive payments totaling almost $24 million, the Illinois attorney general’s office said in a news release Thursday. The state worked with the Federal Trade Commission to obtain the settlement.
“I am pleased that customers and drivers will soon see relief for the harm caused by Grubhub’s unlawful actions, and I remain committed to holding businesses like Grubhub accountable for unfair and deceptive business practices,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.
In a news release, the attorney general’s office said it started investigating Grubhub after receiving consumer complaints about the delivery company. The attorney general had alleged Grubhub misled consumers about the cost of food delivery and misled drivers about how much money they could make on the platform, among other allegations, the attorney general’s office said.
Grubhub, which has denied the allegations against it, agreed to pay the settlement back in 2024. Under the terms of the settlement, the company was also required to make changes to its business practices, including by only listing restaurants on its platform with their consent and “honestly” advertising driver pay, the attorney general’s office said Thursday.
Grubhub said in 2024 that it denied the allegations but believed settling was the company’s best option.
In a statement Thursday, a spokesperson for Grubhub said the company was “committed to transparency so that every single day diners, restaurants and drivers can make well-informed choices to do business with us.”
“While we categorically deny the allegations made by the FTC—many of which are wrong, misleading or no longer applicable to our business—we believe settling this matter was in Grubhub’s best interest and allows us to move forward,” the spokesperson said.
Customers eligible for payouts are those who were unable to redeem a Grubhub gift card, FTC spokesperson Nicole Drayton said in an email. Drivers are eligible if they earned less than promised while delivering for Grubhub between June 2020 and March 2023.
Payment amounts will vary and are not public, Drayton said.
The FTC will send checks or PayPal payments to eligible consumers. In its news release, the attorney general’s office said the FTC had begun mailing settlement checks this week. Consumers who have questions about their payments should call the settlement administrator, Analytics Consulting LLC, at 888-446-4992, the state said. They can also refer to FAQs on the FTC’s website.
Grubhub was founded in Chicago in 2004.
