Walmart Pays $100 Million After FTC Claims It Lied to Delivery Drivers About Pay

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Well, well, well, look who’s got a big checkbook ready to make things right. Walmart, the giant that brings you everything from toothpaste to televisions, is now coughing up $100 million to settle a lawsuit filed by none other than the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It seems the company got a little too creative with how it advertised pay to its Spark Driver app delivery folks.

The FTC and 11 states are accusing Walmart of, shall we say, “misleading” drivers about how much they’d be raking in when they were zooming around delivering groceries and gadgets from the world’s biggest retailer. Apparently, these drivers expected big bucks and instead got, well, less than that.

According to the complaint, Walmart’s little tricks resulted in drivers losing “tens of millions” over a period of four years. Ouch. Looks like some math went horribly wrong, or perhaps just a little too “creative.”

Walmart’s Spark Driver program has been up and running since 2018, offering gig workers a shot at delivering groceries and other fun stuff. But oh, the things they didn’t tell you, my dear driver!

Here’s where it gets juicy:

“Since at least 2021, Walmart made false representations to drivers about three crucial areas of their earnings: tips at checkout, base pay, and those special ‘incentive’ opportunities that were so mysteriously hard to get.”

And it gets better… “Walmart also told customers their tips would go straight to the drivers-100%. But, surprise surprise, not all the tips made it there.”

Now, let’s be clear. These drivers weren’t deciding whether to pick up a delivery based on “what color shoes the customer is wearing.” No, they were making decisions based on cold, hard cash expectations. But those expectations? Totally blown out of the water.

As Christopher Mufarrige from the FTC so eloquently put it: “Labor markets can’t function efficiently without truthful information.” You hear that, Walmart? It’s a simple request-honesty.

So what did Walmart actually agree to in the settlement? Well, they’re putting their hands in their pockets to pay out about $79 million to make up for the pay discrepancies. That’s not all though! They’ve already handed over $62.8 million to drivers, so there’s that. Oh, and they’ll throw an extra $10 million to the FTC for all the paperwork, plus $11 million to the states involved in this little charade. Arizona, California, Illinois, and others will be splitting that one like a bunch of kids fighting over a chocolate bar.

But, don’t expect Walmart to actually say, “Oops, we messed up.” Oh no. As part of the settlement, they neither admit nor deny anything. It’s all very… diplomatic.

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2026-03-04 22:01