18th Annual Workplace Class Action Report - 2022 Edition

Author’s Note Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report: 2022 Edition i Our Annual Report analyzes the leading class action and collective action decisions of 2021 involving claims against employers brought in federal courts under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), and a host of other federal statutes applicable to workplace issues. The Report also analyzes class action and collective action rulings involving claims brought against employers in all 50 state court systems, including decisions pertaining to employment laws, wage & hour laws, and breach of employment contract actions. The key class action and collective action settlements over the past year are also analyzed, both in terms of gross settlement dollars in private plaintiff and government-initiated lawsuits as well as injunctive relief provisions in consent decrees. Finally, the Report also discusses important federal and state court rulings in non-workplace cases which are significant in their impact on the defense of workplace class action litigation. In total, there are 1,607 decisions analyzed in the Report. The cases decided in 2021 foreshadow the direction of class action litigation in the coming year. One certain conclusion is that employment law class action and collective action litigation is becoming ever more sophisticated and will continue to be a source of significant financial exposure to employers well into the future. This report represents the collective contributions of a significant number of our colleagues at Seyfarth Shaw LLP. We wish to thank and acknowledge those contributions by Lorie Almon, Brian Ashe, David S. Baffa, Raymond C. Baldwin, Patrick Bannon, Brett C. Bartlett, Alnisa Bell, Edward W. Bergmann, Holger Besch, Michael J. Burns, Anthony S. Califano, Ashley K. Cano, Robert J. Carty, Jr., Mark A. Casciari, Ariel Cudkowicz, Justin Curley, Catherine M. Dacre, Joseph R. Damato, Lisa J. Damon, Christopher J. DeGroff, Michael DeMarino, Pamela Devata, Ada Dolph, William J. Dritsas, Alex Drummond, John Drury, Chantelle Egan, Noah A. Finkel, Sarah Fowler, Matt Gagnon, Loren Gesinsky, Mark Grajski, Timothy F. Haley, Ari Hersher, Timothy L. Hix, James Hlawek, Timothy M. Hoppe, David Jacobson, Michael Jacobsen, Eric Janson, Louisa Johnson, David D. Kadue, Lynn Kappelman, Daniel B. Klein, Ronald J. Kramer, Richard B. Lapp, Kristina Launey, Paul J. Leaf, Leo Li, Aaron Lubeley, Laura Maechtlen, Richard P. McArdle, Ryan A. McCoy, Helen M. McFarland, Condon A. McGlothlen, Kristin McGurn, Andrew M. McNaught, Christina F. Meddin, Jon Meer, Katherine Mendez, Chelsea D. Mesa, Barry Miller, Ian H. Morrison, Lorraine O’Hara, Camille A. Olson, Andrew Paley, Gerald Pauling, Katherine E. Perrelli, Dana L. Peterson, Kyle Peterson, Thomas J. Piskorski, Jill A. Porcaro, Jennifer Riley, David J. Rowland, Christian Rowley, Emily Schroeder, Sam Schwartz-Fenwick, Andrew Scroggins, Joshua Seidman, Laura Shelby, Frederick T. Smith, Courtney Stieber, Robert Stevens, Robert Szyba, Diana Tabacopoulos, Coby Turner, Joseph Turner, Annette Tyman, Peter A. Walker, Timothy M. Watson, Geoffrey Westbrook, Shireen Wetmore, Howard Wexler, Daniel Whang, Robert S. Whitman, Tom Wybenga, and Adam Young. Our goal is for this Report to guide clients through the thicket of class action and collective action decisional law, and to enable corporate counsel to make sound and informed litigation decisions while minimizing risk. We hope that you find the Seyfarth Shaw Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report to be useful. Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. / General Editor Co-Chair, Class Action Litigation Practice Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP January 2022