18th Annual Workplace Class Action Report - 2022 Edition

Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report: 2022 Edition 37 4. $39.2 million – Pledger, et al. v. Reliance Trust Co. , Case No. 15-CV-4444 (N.D. Ga. March 8, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of an ERISA class alleging mismanagement of retirement funds and breaches of duties with respect of 401(k) plans). 5. $30 million – Del Sesto, et al. v. Prospect Chartercare, LLC , Case No. 18-CV-328 (D.R.I. July 29, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of ERISA class action alleging a false classification of the plan as a church plan in order to under-fund the plan and to avoid disclosure obligations). 6. $28.5 million – Moitoso, et al. v. FMR LLC , Case No. 18-CV-12122 (D. Mass. Jan. 22, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of an ERISA class action alleging that the Defendants breached their fiduciary duties owed to plan participants). 7. $25 million – Smith, et al. v. OSF HealthCare System , Case No. 16-CV-467 (S.D. Ill. Jan. 15, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of ERISA class action alleging an inaccurate classification of the plan as a "church plan" in order to underfund the plan and to avoid disclosure requirements of ERISA). 8. $21.6 million – Cunnington, et al. v. Wawa, Inc. , Case No. 18-CV-3355 (E.D. Penn. April 21, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of ERISA class action alleging breach of fiduciary duties in calculating retirement benefits). 9. $14 million – Baker, et al. v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. , Case No. 20-CV-10397 (D. Mass. Sept. 30, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of an ERISA class action alleging mismanagement of retirement funds).*** 10. $13.75 million – Allegretti, et al. v. Walgreen Co. , Case No. 19-CV-5392 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 22, 2021) (preliminary approval sought for settlement of an ERISA class action alleging mismanagement of workers’ 401(k) retirement funds). Settlements In Private Plaintiff Statutory Workplace Class Actions Plaintiffs’ lawyers also pursued a myriad of statutory claims in workplace class actions brought against employers (outside of the areas of employment discrimination, wage & hour, and ERISA class actions). These cases involved class claims for breach of contract and workplace personal injuries, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), workplace antitrust claims, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN”), and other federal and state statutory law violations. The top 10 settlements in this category increased exponentially in 2021 as they totaled $1.67 billion; by contrast, the total in 2020 was $219.93 million and the total in 2019 was $319.65 million. 1. $852 million – University Of Southern California 2. $575 million – Sutter Health 3. $71.4 million – Columbia University 4. $52 million – Facebook, Inc. 5. $50 million – McDonald’s USA, LLC 6. $29 million – Perdue Farms Inc. 7. $19 million – Duke University 8. $10 million – Wal-Mart Inc. 9. $6.8 million – Compass Group