Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has cut a deal with Walmart that will see the retail giant pay out more than $13 million to resolve a state probe into pay and tip practices tied to its Spark Driver delivery platform. The money returns millions to drivers who say the app misrepresented tips and quietly changed promised pay after they had already accepted offers. Walmart is not admitting wrongdoing but has agreed to operational changes and long-term oversight. The move follows a separate national enforcement action earlier this year.
In a press release, the Office of the Texas Attorney General said the agreement "pays out over $13 million" and that roughly half has already been paid directly to affected Texas drivers, with the rest earmarked for penalties and fees. The office said its investigation found that Walmart misrepresented pre-selected customer tips, split tips among multiple drivers even when each worker was told they would receive the full amount, and altered base pay and incentive amounts after drivers had accepted offers, allegations the company denies. As outlined by the Office of the Texas Attorney General, the agreement resolves those claims.
What the settlement requires
The formal Assurance of Voluntary Compliance filed in Collin County orders Walmart to stop reducing promised tips or earnings after a driver accepts an offer, except in narrowly defined situations such as customer cancellations or driver-initiated changes. It also requires the company to provide clear, unavoidable information on each offer, including estimated pay, number of stops, approximate time and other material details, and to run an earnings verification and remediation program with annual reporting for the next ten years. See the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance for the full terms.
Local and industry coverage reports that Walmart has already paid about $6.7 million to Texas drivers, with the remainder of the roughly $13.3–$13.4 million settlement going to the attorney general’s office for civil penalties and attorneys’ fees. Reporting also notes it remains unclear how many drivers qualify or whether additional restitution is still available to some drivers. As reported by the San Antonio Express-News, about half of the money was disbursed directly to drivers.
Walmart says the settlement does not constitute an admission of liability and that it will improve transparency around offers, refrain from modifying promised earnings after acceptance except for limited carveouts, and operate the verification and compliance program required under the agreement. Those commitments are reflected in the court filing and in the company's public statements about the deal. The Assurance also requires Walmart to document underpayments, remediate them, and maintain records that Texas regulators can review.
Federal context
The Texas action follows a $100 million judgment the Federal Trade Commission and a group of states secured earlier in 2026 against Walmart over similar Spark Driver claims, including alleged misrepresentations about tips and base pay. The FTC said the national settlement bars Walmart from misrepresenting earnings and requires an earnings verification program. "Labor markets cannot function efficiently without truthful and non-misleading information about earnings," the agency's Christopher Mufarrige said. See the FTC press release for details.
Legal implications
The Assurance was filed under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and is enforceable as a court-approved agreement rather than a criminal indictment. The filing explicitly states it does not constitute an admission of liability by Walmart. Even so, the court-approved obligations, including monitoring, annual reporting and formal remediation procedures, create a regulatory compliance burden that Texas officials can use to verify the company’s practices and pursue further remedies if the terms are violated.
What drivers should know
State officials say they will continue reviewing records and marketing materials to ensure pay promises are honored, but they have not published a public claims portal or a complete list of eligible drivers. Drivers who believe they were underpaid are being urged to keep records, watch for communications from Walmart and the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, and consider filing a complaint with the state if they suspect an unresolved underpayment. For timeline and reporting details, see coverage from FreightWaves.
The case highlights growing regulator scrutiny of gig-economy pay transparency and forces a national retail platform to tidy up how it advertises earnings to independent contractors. For Texas Spark drivers, it translates into immediate payments for some and new disclosure rules designed to cut down on the kind of surprise shortfalls that triggered the investigation in the first place.
