Grubhub settlement clears major hurdle after a decade of litigation

(CN) — A federal judge cleared the way Thursday for a proposed $24.7 million settlement that would resolve misclassification claims brought by roughly 60,000 California delivery drivers, moving a decade-old lawsuit against Grubhub closer to resolution.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said she had no remaining objections to the settlement amount or the liability release. She ordered minor technical corrections to the class notice before granting preliminary approval and said she expects to sign off once a revised notice is filed within the week.

“Get as many eyes on it as possible so I can approve it and get this settlement going,” Corley said.

It was a different tone from the last time the parties stood before the Joe Biden appointee. At that November 2025 hearing, Corley refused to approve the deal, chastising both sides over a settlement release she called untethered to the claims in the case.

“This is a pox on both parties,” she said. “You agreed to it. It does not represent the class at all.”

The judge also raised a constitutional objection. The original plaintiff, she said, only had legal standing to bring claims through December 2020, when California voters passed Proposition 22, a ballot measure that exempted app-based gig workers from state employment laws.

“I am not approving a settlement just because of heated negotiation; I have an independent obligation,” Corley said, later adding: “You are asking me to do something that is jeopardizing the entire settlement for everybody, and I don’t know why you would do that.”

In the months since, both problems were addressed. The release was rewritten, and a new plaintiff was added to represent drivers who worked after Proposition 22 took effect. Corley said she was satisfied on both counts.

The case began in November 2015 when Raef Lawson, an aspiring actor delivering food for Grubhub around Los Angeles, sued the company after four months on the job. Lawson claimed Grubhub cheated him out of minimum wages and expense reimbursements by treating him as an independent contractor and denying him the protections California law affords to employees.

The case went to a bench trial in 2018, where Corley ruled in Grubhub’s favor. The Ninth Circuit later sent the case back to her, and in 2021 she reversed course, finding Lawson had in fact been a Grubhub employee all along. In March 2023, she awarded him $65.11 in personal damages.

That figure was never really the point. Lawson also brought a claim under California’s Private Attorneys General Act, which allows private citizens to act in place of the state attorney general and recover civil penalties for labor violations affecting an entire workforce.

Under the proposed deal, each class member would receive at least $25. Plaintiff’s counsel is seeking roughly a third of the total settlement in attorney’s fees. All figures are pending the court’s final approval.

Shannon Liss-Riordan of Lichten & Liss-Riordan represents the plaintiff class. Grubhub is represented by Dhananjay Manthripragada and Joseph Barakat of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

Corley said the final approval hearing will be held in person, with a Zoom option available to class members who wish to watch or participate.

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