Metro

Whole Foods’ delivery fee doesn’t go to people making deliveries: suit

Whole Foods Market is forcing its delivery people to go hungry, charging customers a fee without giving a cut to the employees who actually schlep their groceries, a lawsuit claims.

Alberto Rivera filed the class-action suit against the gourmet grocery chain in Manhattan Supreme Court on behalf of its 40 delivery staffers in New York state’s 12 stores, claiming their bosses are illegally holding onto what customers think are tips.

Rivera, of Manhattan, worked at the Whole Foods at 250 Seventh Ave. from February 2011 to July 2011.

He claims in court papers that there is no designated line for gratuity in receipts given to customers and that most shoppers assumed the automatic $5 to $10 “delivery charge” goes into the pockets of the delivery people, not the store’s coffers.

“More than once, Whole Foods customers have told Rivera they thought the ‘delivery charge’ was his gratuity,” the suit says.

Rivera’s attorney, Douglas Lipsky, said withholding the gratuity violates the state’s labor laws.

Reps for Whole Foods declined to comment.