The Amazon driver tips lawsuit that most people are searching for is the Federal Trade Commission’s case against Amazon Flex, which ended in a $61.7 million settlement paid back to drivers whose customer tips Amazon had quietly used to cover its own promised base pay between late 2016 and August 2019.1FTC announcement, February 2, 2021 Two other government cases followed, in the District of Columbia and Seattle, but those settlements went to the governments rather than to drivers.
What Amazon Did With Driver Tips
Amazon launched Flex in 2015, paying independent-contractor drivers to deliver packages in their own vehicles. The company advertised $18 to $25 per hour plus 100% of customer tips on top of that rate.
Starting in late 2016, Amazon changed the math without telling drivers. It lowered its own hourly contribution and used tip money to fill the gap up to the advertised minimum. Customers thought their tips were a bonus for the driver. In practice, tips were subsidizing the base pay Amazon had already promised.
Drivers grew suspicious and tested the app themselves. One driver, Jeff Lee, tipped himself $12 on a delivery to his own home and found his total shift pay barely cleared $30, meaning Amazon had put in only about $18. A Virginia driver tipped himself nearly $16 on an assigned order and was initially credited with zero tips; his pay was adjusted only after he complained. The Los Angeles Times published those accounts on February 7, 2019, with driver receipts, emails, and internal company language referring to “supplemental earnings” used to meet promised minimums.
The $61.7 Million FTC Settlement
The FTC opened a formal investigation in May 2019. Amazon stopped the practice that August and went back to paying a stated base plus 100% of tips shown as a separate line in the Flex app.
On February 2, 2021, the FTC announced a $61,710,583 settlement, which the agency said was the full amount Amazon had withheld from drivers over roughly two and a half years.1FTC announcement, February 2, 2021 The commissioners voted 4-0. Amazon did not admit wrongdoing.
The final consent order, approved in June 2021 under FTC file number 1923123, runs for 20 years. It bars Amazon from misrepresenting driver earnings, pay rates, or tip percentages, and it requires Amazon to get each driver’s explicit, informed consent before changing how tips factor into pay.
Who Got Paid and How Much
The FTC began sending refunds in November 2021: 139,507 checks and 1,621 PayPal payments, totaling more than $58.5 million, to 141,128 affected drivers. The average payout was $422. Amounts varied widely, and the largest single payment was over $28,000. Any driver with more than $5 in documented withheld tips received the full amount owed.
The 2025 Second Round of Payments
In May 2025, the FTC issued a second distribution: 19,478 checks totaling more than $2.3 million, sent to drivers who had cashed their first check and had at least $600 in withheld tips. Recipients were told to cash those checks within 90 days. The refund administrator is Rust Consulting, reachable at 1-800-654-8874.
Not every driver considered the outcome adequate. One Flex driver told Modern Retail that after Amazon changed its pay model in 2019, her average tip earnings per shift roughly doubled, from about $15–$20 to around $40, a rough measure of what the old system had been costing drivers day to day.
The DC Attorney General Settlement
The District of Columbia brought its own case, framing the same conduct as a consumer protection issue rather than a labor one. On December 6, 2022, then-AG Karl Racine filed suit in DC Superior Court (Case No. 2022-CAB-005698) against Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon Logistics, Inc., alleging violations of three provisions of the DC Consumer Protection Procedures Act. The complaint argued that Amazon misled customers who believed their tips were going entirely to drivers.
On February 7, 2025, AG Brian Schwalb announced a $3.95 million settlement: $2.45 million in civil penalties and $1.5 million in litigation costs, all paid to the District. Judge Leslie A. Meek approved the consent order. For five years, Amazon must clearly disclose on its website and app whenever tips count toward a minimum earnings guarantee. Amazon denied the allegations and admitted no violation of law.
No money from the DC case went to drivers. The AG’s office said drivers had already been reimbursed through the FTC action, so direct payments were unnecessary.
The Seattle Labor Standards Settlement
Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards investigated Amazon Logistics, doing business as Amazon Flex, under three city ordinances: the Gig Worker Premium Pay Ordinance, which required at least $2.50 per order in extra pay during the pandemic emergency, and two paid sick and safe time ordinances for gig and app-based workers. The city alleged Amazon provided premium pay and sick time only to workers handling food and grocery deliveries, excluding package delivery drivers.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the investigation concluded with Amazon agreeing to pay $3,777,924.10 in settlement payments and paid-sick-time credits to 10,968 affected workers, plus a $20,000 fine to the city. Worker payments were scheduled to begin around January 1, 2026. Amazon denied the allegations while agreeing to the settlement.
Other Amazon Driver Lawsuits Still Open
The tip cases are resolved, but Amazon still faces separate legal fights over whether Flex drivers should be treated as employees rather than independent contractors. These are different claims from the tip lawsuit and involve different money.
As of mid-2024, more than 32,000 individual arbitration claims had been filed with the American Arbitration Association by Flex drivers in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts, represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll and Gibbs Law Group. Drivers argue they are misclassified and are owed unpaid wages, overtime, and reimbursement for expenses like personal car mileage and cell phone use. In hearings held so far, individual awards have averaged roughly $9,000, with some reaching $20,000. The arbitrations are ongoing.
In October 2025, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo sued Amazon in Essex County Superior Court (Case No. ESX-L-008049-25), alleging Flex drivers fail the state’s ABC test for independent contractor status. The state is seeking unpaid wages, overtime, sick leave, contributions to unemployment and disability funds, and civil penalties. Amazon has called the suit “wrong on the facts and the law.” As of mid-2026, the case is in its early stages.
A federal class action covering roughly 150,000 Flex drivers over the same tip-withholding conduct did not go forward as a class. Judge Barbara J. Rothstein of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington denied class certification, finding that the FTC’s $61.7 million settlement had already provided relief and that a class case would be “costly and duplicative.” The parties later reached an agreement in principle on the remaining claims, though the terms have not been made public.
If you drove for Amazon Flex between late 2016 and August 2019 and have not received a refund check, contact Rust Consulting at 1-800-654-8874.