McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP
Tues., July 14, 2026
If you’ve ever looked at a job offer and thought, “That math isn’t mathing,” Texas recently had something to say about it. The State of Texas and Walmart reached a resolution worth more than $13 million in a lawsuit over allegations involving Walmart’s Spark Driver delivery program, with roughly half going to affected Texas delivery drivers and the rest covering civil penalties and costs. The case is The State of Texas v. Walmart Inc., Case No. 296-04270-2026, in the 296th District Court of Collin County, Texas.
According to Texas, Walmart allegedly violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), a law that prohibits false, misleading, and deceptive business practices. The State alleged that Walmart represented certain earnings, tips, and incentive opportunities to delivery drivers, but drivers sometimes received less than what was originally shown. Walmart denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
The allegations were eye-opening. Texas claimed Walmart sometimes showed delivery drivers the full customer tip amount, only to later divide that tip among multiple drivers. The State also alleged Walmart occasionally removed deliveries from accepted batches without notifying drivers, reducing both expected tips and base pay after the driver had already accepted the work.
Texas further alleged that Walmart misrepresented the rules for earning bonus or “Incentive” pay and, in some cases, failed to pass along tips that drivers expected to receive. Under the agreement, Walmart must implement new safeguards, including an earnings verification program designed to help ensure drivers receive the compensation shown when they accept offers.
This case is part of a broader trend. Many states have consumer protection statutes similar to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), and regulators have increasingly used those laws to pursue companies that allegedly misrepresent worker pay, tips, bonuses, or other compensation. The strongest example is Walmart itself: in February 2026, the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 11 states—including California, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma—secured a $100 million settlement based on allegations that Walmart misled Spark drivers about base pay, tips, and incentive earnings. The lawsuit alleged many of the same practices that Texas challenged, including inflated earnings representations and tips that drivers allegedly did not receive as promised. Walmart denied wrongdoing. The case relied on both federal law and various state consumer protection statutes, including California’s Unfair Competition Law, Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Michigan’s Consumer Protection Act, and similar laws in the participating states.
The lesson for workers? Whether you wear steel-toe boots, drive deliveries, or punch a clock, employers and companies can’t play hide-and-seek with pay. If your paycheck looks different from what you were promised, it may be worth asking questions. If you think your employer hasn’t paid you properly, contact us at [email protected].
