SFALP Students Help Secure $4.5 Million Settlement for Misclassified Delivery Drivers

Yale Law School’s San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP) supported the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office (SFCAO) in securing a $4.5 million settlement with gig staffing company WorkWhile over the alleged misclassification of delivery drivers as independent contractors instead of employees.

WorkWhile hires workers to fill open shifts for client businesses across multiple industries, including delivery, hospitality, event service, and warehousing. The settlement requires WorkWhile to pay $4.1 million in restitution to delivery drivers and $400,000 in civil penalties to the City Attorney’s Office.

For nearly 20 years, SFALP has paired Yale Law School students with city attorneys to develop and litigate affirmative cases. The clinic was founded by former Law School Dean Heather Gerken and is now directed by Clinical Lecturer in Law Emma Sokoloff-Rubin ’18. 

Students in the clinic have supported the City Attorney’s Worker Protection Team with legal research and writing throughout the WorkWhile matter. Working alongside deputy city attorneys, students researched questions in gig economy worker classification, including defenses raised in related litigation, and helped the team think through investigative tools such as subpoenas and the kinds of motion practice that often shape misclassification cases. The students’ work helped the team evaluate legal theories, anticipate arguments, and move efficiently on complex issues — while giving students hands-on experience translating real-world harms into enforceable public cases.

“The City Attorney’s victory in the WorkWhile case reflects what's so special about the clinic: it pairs rigorous training with impact,” said Sarah Donilon ’26, a student in the clinic. “Each assignment on knotty legal questions offered a glimpse into the intensive, detail-oriented work of the SFCAO attorneys, who sought to understand the WorkWhile case from every possible angle.”

The City Attorney’s victory in the WorkWhile case reflects what's so special about the clinic: it pairs rigorous training with impact.” —Sarah Donilon ’26

The City Attorney sued WorkWhile in June 2024, alleging that its misclassification practices violated state and local labor laws and conferred an unfair business advantage in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. In December 2024, the City Attorney secured an initial settlement and injunction requiring WorkWhile to pay its California non-driver workers $1 million in restitution and to reclassify all non-driver workers as employees moving forward.

The most recent stipulated partial judgment, approved by the San Francisco Superior Court on Jan. 16, 2026, requires WorkWhile to pay $4.1 million in restitution to misclassified delivery drivers who worked on or before Sept. 5, 2025, along with $400,000 in civil penalties to the City Attorney’s Office. The City Attorney’s Office continues to litigate claims related to drivers who completed shifts after Sept. 5, 2025.

The City Attorney’s Worker Protection Team was established by City Attorney David Chiu in 2022 to combat systemic labor abuses such as wage theft and employee misclassification. The team, staffed by Ian Eliasoph, Hanks Giorgi, Matthew Goldberg, Maureen Slack, and Lauren Tantriella, focuses on protecting marginalized workers across San Francisco and California.

“This result is another important milestone in our effort to combat abusive practices in the gig economy,” said Matthew Goldberg, Chief Attorney for the Office’s Worker Protection Team. “The Yale Law students played an instrumental role in every phase of this case — from case development through judgment. They continue to expand our capacity immeasurably and, by extension, are playing a huge role in protecting and advancing the rights of California workers.”

Case Information: People of the State of California v. Workwhile, et al. San Francisco Superior Court, Case No. CGC-24-615401. 

Read the City Attorney’s news release. 

View the stipulated partial judgment.

About SFALP
The San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP) is a clinical collaboration between Yale Law School and the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Through SFALP, Yale Law School students work alongside public lawyers on affirmative enforcement matters that protect the public interest. Read more about the work and impact of the clinic.