The Hidden Truth of Not Tipping Your Driver: TikTok Lawyer Explains

A TikTok lawyer has analyzed a viral video from a legal perspective regarding tips for individuals.

Attorney Ugo Lord analyzes whether it is legally wrong to not tip your delivery driver. This video begins with a driver taking groceries back to the store after not getting a tip:

Attorney Ugo Lord Explains The Legal Side Of Not Giving A Tip

The attorney was reacting to a situation in which a delivery person faced a tough call when a customer didn’t tip after a massive $400 grocery delivery. The delivery person, feeling like tipping is vital for her hard work: “If you can pay for the service, you can pay for the tip as well.” she says. 

However, the buyer finds it optional to offer the tip for the delivery with a response saying that a tip is not automatic.

Later, as the driver takes the groceries back, she seems to be aggressive saying: “I know it’s not automatic. But, what I’m saying here is if you’re not gonna tip me, I’m just gonna take it back.” 

Ugo Lord explained the laws around tipping. Credit: Youtube/ugolord

Attorney Ugo Lord gets into the feelings part of this story. He states it’s “morally questionable” to ask someone to bring you a ton of groceries without saying thanks with a tip. It might not be a rule to tip. However, it sure doesn’t feel right for the delivery driver to take groceries back to the store because she didn’t get a tip.

However, things can be different when it comes to the law.

“It is perfectly legal. Because there’s no legal requirement to tip anyone.” he states.

“These groceries belong to the homeowner because they were paid. So, taking them and returning them is actually taking someone else’s property and making the shopper in the wrong for taking their property without consent.” Lord explains in his reaction video.

Is The Delivery Driver Behavior Considered As Theft?

Now, legally speaking, stealing, which isn’t okay, includes taking stuff that isn’t yours or not paying for services. In terms of California Penal Code 484 PC, to prove stealing, the prosecution must prove the following:

• You took possession of property owned by someone else;
• You took the property without the owner’s consent;
• When you took the property, you intended to deprive the owner of it permanently or remove it from the owner’s possession for so extended a period of time that the owner would be deprived of a major portion of the value or enjoyment of the property.
• You moved the property, even a small distance, and kept it for any period of time, however brief.

The big problem in all this is who owns what. After the buyers pay for groceries, those groceries belong to them. Despite the absence of a tip, the fact that the homeowners had paid for groceries made them the property of the homeowner. And, therefore, the behavior of the delivery person in the video could amount to theft. 

The issue, however, is that theft requires an intent to deprive. The driver in the video said she was going to return the property. Therefore, there is no deprivation of any money. Without the intent to deprive the owner, it is not theft. There are arguments for and against both sides of this

Conclusion

All these legal words bring us to a bigger talk about how we should tip. Attorney Ugo Lord has definitely made us question what’s fair and what the rules say in moments like this.

Eventually, this video makes us think about how we treat others and what’s fair. It’s tricky because there are rules about what’s right and what’s legal. It’s good to think about both!