A food delivery driver made nearly 1,000 deliveries while awaiting sentencing in a deadly Philly hit-and-run. A lawsuit says apps aren’t properly vetting their drivers.

Five days after a food delivery vehicle struck and killed 29-year-old Tiffany Reed while she was crossing Broad Street and the driver fled the scene, he got back behind the wheel.

On Jan. 17, 2020, Todd Burton completed two DoorDash deliveries, earning $10.25. The next day, he collected $11.50 for another drop-off.

After Burton, then 21, was arrested the following month and released on bail, he continued to make deliveries.

For more than a year after the hit-and-run that killed the North Philadelphia woman — a longtime manager at a nearby Wendy’s who was engaged to be married — the driver who had contracted for food delivery apps Grubhub and DoorDash continued to profit from the gig economy, until he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in 2021 and was sentenced to prison.

Following the accident, Burton would complete 977 deliveries for DoorDash, according to an analysis of his pay stubs that were provided to The Inquirer.

In a complaint brought by Reed’s family in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas, lawyers allege that major food delivery apps are responsible for large gaps in vetting their drivers’ histories — including Burton, whose gray Ford Fusion was allegedly unregistered and uninsured for periods of his employment before it sped through a red light, striking Reed as she left work and launching her 152 feet down the the road.

“Ultimately, the death of Tiffany Reed is a sobering reminder that these app-based delivery companies perhaps have been going unchecked for too long,” said Simon Haileab, a lawyer for Wapner Newman, the law firm representing the family. “And a change is necessary.”

Burton is also named as a defendant. He said in an email that he had no comment on the litigation, and that he was licensed at the time of the hit-and-run.

According to a deposition, Burton said he was on his way home from completing a Grubhub order and wasn’t actively delivering food when he lost control of his vehicle and it struck Reed at North Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue about 3:45 a.m.

But time sheets obtained by The Inquirer show that between 2:50 and 4 a.m., he completed two deliveries for another app, DoorDash. According to Wapner Newman partner Robert Miller, in later questioning, Burton acknowledged delivering for multiple companies.

Burton’s driving record raises questions about whether he should have been contracted in the first place.

In November 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation suspended his license until January 2020 for failing to respond to a citation. Over the previous year, records show, he was stopped on separate occasions for having a faulty tail light, making a prohibited turn, and lacking a valid inspection certificate.

He’d been driving for DoorDash since at least June 2019, according to his time sheet. It shows that over his two-month license suspension, he used the app nearly every day — completing 278 total deliveries.

Burton said that a friend drove for him while his license was suspended, and that he was eventually “taken off the app.” He did not specify which app.

Miller said a friend driving shows further lack of oversight.

DoorDash did not return requests for comment. Grubhub said he is no longer delivering for the company.

DoorDash requires newly hired drivers to undergo criminal background checks, according to its website, and like Grubhub requires a valid driver’s license, car insurance, and a clean driving record. In this instance, it’s not clear whether any checks — which are conducted by third-party vendors — were run on Burton after his arrest.

“We extend our thoughts to the Reed family in the wake of this shocking, heartbreaking incident and continue to make safety a top priority,” a Grubhub spokesperson said in a statement.

The complaint comes as the gig economy becomes an increasingly large share of work performed by Americans, and food delivery apps surge in popularity. DoorDash is one of the most widely used services, and says it has more than 34 million monthly active users.

A company blog post said there were more than three million “Dashers” working from April to June of 2021. An industry blog, citing figures from a company report, estimated that DoorDash had 6.8 million drivers that year overall.

The San Francisco-based company has been slapped with complaints from lawyers attempting to hold it accountable for the behavior of its drivers, who have been accused of such incidents as slashing a Nevada restaurant owner and an assault on a customer in Queens, N.Y.

The Reeds’ complaint, which alleges wrongful death and negligence, echoes a 2021 suit brought against the company after one of its drivers was charged with striking and killing an elderly Louisiana woman in her yard, allegedly while reading the details of an order on his phone. Parties reached an undisclosed settlement, according to court filings.

Such complaints aren’t limited to food delivery apps, with Amazon targeted with scores of suits for accidents involving its drivers, including one that left a 24-year-old man paralyzed.

The strategy of tech giants appears to be denying liability for its drivers, who in Amazon’s case are technically hired by smaller contractors and are not considered employees of the behemoth they deliver for.

In a subpoena obtained by The Inquirer, DoorDash asserts that Burton “performed services for customers and merchants using a technology platform maintained by DoorDash,” and “was a bona fide independent contractor.”

According to its website, DoorDash partners with the background check provider Checkr to verify its drivers’ histories, claiming the company offers a “continuous check” feature that monitors for new criminal offenses after the initial check.

Checkr did not respond to a request for comment about whether it conducted a check of Burton, or another check after his arrest.

In addition to DoorDash, Checkr also contracts with Uber, Instacart, and Lyft, among other companies, and on its website claims it conducts background checks for “95% of the gig economy.”