Attorney General Liz Murrill today announced a settlement with Walmart to resolve allegations that the company deceived drivers and customers who participated in its Spark Driver program.

“Companies must not mislead gig workers about the pay they will receive or deceive consumers about where their tips are going. This settlement requires Walmart to implement an earnings verification program and helps ensure Louisiana drivers receive the earnings and tips they were promised," said Attorney General Liz Murrill.

Walmart uses its Spark Driver service to deliver goods to customers using gig workers via the Spark Driver app. Those workers decide whether to accept “offers” to deliver orders based on Walmart’s statements about the base pay and tips a driver can expect to receive if they complete the work. This settlement resolves allegations that Walmart misrepresented pre-tip amounts, base pay, and incentive pay to drivers. While Walmart allegedly showed one offer to the driver, it would split or change parts of the order after the driver accepted the offer, resulting in the driver receiving less than the base pay or the full tip. Walmart also allegedly failed to pay drivers for earning incentives by failing to disclose the full incentive requirements. Walmart also allegedly deceived customers into thinking that 100 percent of their tip would go to drivers when the company didn’t always pass on the full tips to the drivers and sometimes kept them entirely.

As part of the settlement, Walmart is required to implement an earnings verification program to help ensure Louisiana drivers are paid the earnings and tips they were promised. Walmart is prohibited from modifying an offer for base and incentive pay or tips after the initial offer except under limited circumstances. In addition, Walmart is banned from misrepresenting the earnings and other information included in the delivery offers it makes to Spark drivers. Walmart has already paid Louisiana drivers more than $1 million because of Walmart’s alleged actions. Pursuant to this settlement, the company will also pay $1,051,682.22 to Louisiana.

Read the settlement here.