Overview
- CEO Tony Xu publicly rejected the allegations on X, saying the culture described is not DoorDash and that he would fire anyone who tolerated it.
- DoorDash said it has never used a “Desperation Score,” denied referring to drivers as “human assets,” and rejected claims about a driver benefit fee or tips subsidizing base pay.
- The anonymous Reddit post, which did not name a company, alleged a hidden metric that penalizes drivers deemed desperate and accused the app of slowing regular orders to make “priority” look faster.
- Platformer reported the thread was a hoax after the poster offered AI-generated “evidence,” including a fabricated work badge, and declined to provide coworkers for corroboration.
- The claims went viral on social media during heightened scrutiny of gig-economy algorithms, including a new California law requiring clear pay breakdowns and prohibiting the use of tips to offset base pay.