DoorDash on Friday asked a California court to dismiss a lawsuit against it by Uber.
Uber’s suit, filed in February in California Superior Court, alleges that DoorDash uses illegal tactics to get restaurants to sign exclusive contracts for first-party delivery.
DoorDash called the suit meritless and said that Uber resorted to a legal attack because it can’t compete with DoorDash in the marketplace.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than a cynical and calculated scare tactic from a frustrated competitor seeking to avoid real competition,” DoorDash said in a news release Friday.
DoorDash dominates the market for first-party delivery, which refers to orders that are placed through a restaurant’s own website or app and fulfilled by third-party couriers. According to Uber’s lawsuit, 90 of the 100 largest restaurant chains have preferred first-party delivery agreements with DoorDash.
Uber says DoorDash has coerced its way to the top by threatening restaurants with penalties, higher fees or worse placement on the DoorDash marketplace if they don't sign. It said that restaurants have told Uber they feel like they have a “gun to their head” and that DoorDash is bullying them.
DoorDash countered that things like discounted pricing are standard competitive practices and that its product is simply better than Uber’s, which is why it has won more business. It criticized Uber’s lawsuit as a “grab-bag of claims.”
An attorney for DoorDash said that while it appears to be an antitrust case, the California statutes DoorDash is accused of violating do not actually relate to antitrust law. He also said that the suit contains few details to support Uber’s claims, such as the contracts in question or the terms that DoorDash allegedly violated.
An Uber spokesperson responded: "It seems like the team at DoorDash is having a hard time understanding the content of our Complaint. When restaurants are forced to choose between unfair terms or retaliation, that’s not competition—it’s coercion. Uber will continue to stand up for merchants and for a level playing field. We look forward to presenting the facts in court."
DoorDash expects a hearing on its motion in July.
The case is a rare public clash between the country’s two largest restaurant delivery providers, which have been fighting over share for years. DoorDash claimed the No. 1 spot in 2019.
It also puts a spotlight on first-party delivery, which is a small but growing part of the providers’' business. DoorDash has offered its first-party service, DoorDash Drive, since 2016; Uber launched its version, Uber Direct, in 2020.
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