A Fremont-based delivery service for Asian and Hispanic grocery stores, Weee!, is being sued by two employees in state court in Alameda County, alleging a number of labor-related charges including the garnishing of tips.
The plaintiffs in the case, Yi Song and Xiangyang Ji, worked as delivery drivers at the company's Union City warehouse, accuse the company of taking large portions of their tips, not allocating proper time for meals and misclassifying over 100 drivers as independent contractors under the California Labor Code. The pair, represented by lawyers at Sanford Heisler Sharp, are seeking class action for the case on behalf of similar Weee! delivery drivers.
Song and Yi allege that as much as two-thirds of the tips given to drivers by customers were being withheld by the company, and when they brought their concerns to management, they were chastised by HR for speaking to customers about how much they were paying in tips. The lawsuit also alleges that drivers were required to clock out during meal breaks, but were also told to continue making deliveries during that period unpaid. It also alleged that about 100 drivers were classified as independent contractors, while a similar-sized groups were counted as full employees, despite both groups doing the same job.
Song is a current employee at Weee!, while Ji accuses the company of firing him in retaliation for complaining about labor code violations.
"I think the company is taking advantage of their delivery drivers, because a lot of their delivery drivers, first of all are low wage workers and also a significant number of them only speak Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese," said Qiaojing Ella Zheng, managing partner of Sanford Heisler Sharp. "They don't speak English fluently and they don't have a comprehensive understanding of all the protections that they are provided by California and federal employment laws."
Weee! did not return a request for comment but I will update if I hear back.
The startup has raised $816.82 million at a valuation of $4.07 billion, according to Pitchbook.
