There is no certified class action against Roadie as of mid-2026, but the crowdsourced delivery company owned by UPS is the subject of two active legal fights: a law firm investigation into whether its drivers are misclassified as independent contractors, and a Teamsters grievance alleging that UPS is illegally routing union work to Roadie’s nonunion gig drivers. Anyone searching for a Roadie lawsuit is likely tracking one of these two matters.
The Driver Misclassification Investigation
The law firms Gibbs Mura and Cohen Milstein are investigating whether Roadie misclassifies its delivery drivers as independent contractors when they should legally be treated as employees. If drivers are employees, they are owed protections and payments Roadie does not currently provide.
The investigation covers three main categories of alleged violations under federal and state labor law:
- Minimum wage shortfalls once actual hours worked and out-of-pocket expenses are counted.
- Unpaid overtime for drivers working more than 40 hours in a week.
- Unreimbursed business expenses, including gas, vehicle wear, and cell phone charges that many state laws require employers to cover.
No complaint has been filed. The firms are collecting information from drivers through a questionnaire and consultation process and are working on a contingency basis, meaning drivers pay nothing unless there is a recovery.
Why Roadie’s Contractor Label Is Contested
Roadie’s terms and conditions, updated in January 2025, classify drivers as “independent service providers” and state that Roadie “is not a motor carrier.” The agreement says Roadie does not supervise drivers, does not require performance reports, and does not reimburse any expenses, including fuel, insurance, maintenance, or phone costs.
The same terms impose operational requirements that cut the other way. Drivers must keep the app running with geolocation on throughout a delivery, perform work in a “timely, safe, professional and workmanlike manner,” maintain a minimum 4-star rating to stay active, and follow rules that prohibit carrying weapons, entering private residences, or bringing minors along. Whether that level of control tips the arrangement into an employment relationship is the question the investigation is testing. Courts applying different tests in different jurisdictions have reached different answers on similar gig-economy setups.
The Teamsters Subcontracting Grievance
The more advanced dispute involves the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents UPS drivers. The union alleges that UPS has been illegally subcontracting core parcel delivery work to Roadie’s nonunion drivers in violation of Article 1 of the 2023 master collective bargaining agreement.
Teamsters Local 804 has led the effort. Since UPS acquired Roadie in 2021, the union argues, the company has diverted work belonging to unionized UPS drivers to cheaper Roadie contractors. National spokeswoman Kara Deniz said “UPS has transferred Teamster work to nonunion Roadie drivers every day” since the acquisition. The union points to Roadie deliveries moving with UPS labels, tracking systems, and equipment as evidence that this is standard UPS parcel work being rerouted.
UPS denies the allegations. The company says Roadie operates as a separate business unit handling shipments outside the traditional small package network, such as same-day urgent and oversized deliveries, and that the arrangement complies with the 2023 contract.
As of fall 2025, the Teamsters national office was consolidating grievances filed by locals across the country, and Local 804 had taken UPS to national arbitration. The union has been gathering photos, tracking information, and documents from members showing Roadie packages moving through the UPS network. No arbitration ruling has been issued.
Smith v. Roadie
One individual case against Roadie appears in federal court records. Danielle Smith filed a civil rights employment suit against Roadie, Inc. and a defendant identified as Jayne Doe in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, case number 1:22-cv-07449. Publicly available details about the specific claims, rulings, and current status are limited beyond the filing and party information.
What Drivers and Watchers Should Know
If you drive for Roadie and think you have been shorted on wages, overtime, or expenses, the Gibbs Mura and Cohen Milstein investigation is the current avenue for having a claim reviewed, and the contingency structure means no upfront cost. If you are following the labor side of the story, the Teamsters arbitration is where the subcontracting question will get its first real ruling. Neither track has produced a class action or a final decision yet, but both are live.