Pandemic Expected To Increase Workplace Class-Action Lawsuits

The COVID-19 pandemic will generate more workplace class-action litigation this year, particularly for wage and hour issues, experts warn.

There has been a significant increase in the size of aggregate class-action settlement recoveries, particularly last year, and the trend is expected to continue.

Based on the top 10 largest case resolutions in various workplace class-action categories, settlements totaled $1.58 billion in 2020 and $3.62 billion in 2021, compared with $1.34 billion in 2019, according to Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report: 2022 Edition.

‘The big issue is, you’ve got the Biden administration that is very, very pro-worker, pro-regulation, and so you’re going to have government enforcement actions that are very much aligned with the plaintiffs class-action bar,’ which will lead to an uptick in filings, said Gerald Maatman, a partner with Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.

COVID-19 will contribute to the expected increase this year, experts say.