Judge Halts NYC Wage Law Opposed by Food Delivery App Firms

A judge has reportedly halted a New York City minimum wage law that is opposed by app-based food delivery firms.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Moyne issued a temporary halt to the law that would have gone into effect July 12, saying he must first receive formal arguments from the lawyers for the city and the companies, Bloomberg reported Friday (July 7).

The judge also scheduled another hearing for July 31, according to the report.

The decision comes a day after it was reported that app-based food delivery companies Uber, DoorDash, Grubhub and Relay Delivery filed lawsuits against the minimum wage law, saying the labor costs could make it unfeasible to provide some services.

In its lawsuit, DoorDash said: “This fatally flawed and subjective rulemaking process unsurprisingly worsened these already problematic policies.”

However, Vilda Vera Mayuga, head of the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, disagreed.

“Delivery workers, like all workers, deserve fair pay for their labor, and we are disappointed that Uber, DoorDash, Grubhub and Relay disagree,” she said.

New York City’s plan to implement the law was announced June 11. It would raise the minimum hourly wage for “app-based restaurant delivery workers” to $17.96 beginning July 12 and raise it again to $19.96 on April 1, 2025. According to the mayor’s office, these workers currently average $7.09 an hour in the city.

“Our delivery workers have consistently delivered for us — now, we are delivering for them,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said when announcing the law. “This new minimum pay rate, up by almost $13/hour, will guarantee these workers and their families can earn a living, access greater economic stability, and help keep our city’s legendary restaurant industry thriving.”

On the day of the announcement, DoorDash responded with a blog post in which it said the policy will have unintended consequences and will undermine the workers it aims to support.

“As we repeatedly made clear, to meet these new demands of such an extreme minimum pay rate, platforms like ours will have to increase costs on each order or reduce services in New York City,” the company said in the post.