Consumer protection agency sues Walmart, Branch alleging illegal pay practices for gig drivers

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sued Walmart and work scheduling platform Branch Messenger for allegedly forcing delivery drivers that are part of its gig program to use costly deposit accounts to get paid and mispresented how they could access their wages. The agency alleged last week that for approximately two years starting in 2021, Walmart and Branch violated federal law by forcing 1 million drivers on its so-called Spark program to use Branch to get paid and that they would terminate workers who didn’t want to use these accounts. Walmart’s Spark program uses gig workers who make deliveries from Walmart stores nationwide on so-called “last mile" deliveries. Walmart called the suit “rushed” and said it was "riddled with factual errors."