18th Annual Workplace Class Action Report - 2022 Edition

38 Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report: 2022 Edition 10. $5.85 million – WAM Holdings d/b/a All-Star Management, Inc. The biggest settlements involved biometric privacy lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct. 1. $852 million – Chi, et al. v. University Of Southern California, et al. , Case No. 18-CV-4258 (C.D. Cal. March 25, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of a class action brought by 702 victims claiming they were sexually abused by the university staff gynecologist). 2. $575 million – UFCW & Employee Benefits Trust, et al. v. Sutter Health , Case No. CGC-14-538451 (Cal. Super. Ct. Aug. 27, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of a class action alleging the California-based health system leveraged its market power to raise prices and force health plans to use their providers). 3. $71.5 million – Doe 16, et al. v. Columbia University , Case No. 20-CV-1791 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 1, 2021) (settlement agreement reached in a class action alleging patients were sexually abused by a former obstetrician-gynecologist on staff). 4. $52 million – Scola, et al. v. Facebook, Inc. , Case No. 18-CV-5135 (Cal. Super. Ct. July 14, 2021) (final approval granted in a class action against Facebook alleging that the company did not protect the content moderators from significant psychological trauma that resulted from graphic images they saw as part of their job duties). 5. $50 million – Lark, et al. v. McDonald’s USA, LLC , Case No. 17-L-559 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Nov. 29, 2021) (preliminary approval granted for settlement of a class action involving claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting fingerprint data without the consent of their workers). 6. $29 million – Jien, et al. v. Perdue Farms Inc. , Case No. 19-CV-2521 (D. Md. Oct. 5, 2021) (preliminary approval granted for settlement of a class action alleging conspiracy by poultry companies to artificially keep workers’ wages low). 7. $19 million – Binotti, et al. v. Duke University , Case No. 20-CV-470 (M.D.N.C. Aug. 30, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of a class action alleging Sherman Act antitrust claims stemming from the school’s no-poach agreement with other institutions). 8. $10 million – Roach, et al. v. Walmart Inc. , Case No. 2019-CH-01107 (Ill. Cir. Ct. June 14, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of a class action involving claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by requiring workers to scan handprints without obtaining their consent). 9. $6.8 million – Bryant, et al. v. Compass Group , Case No. 19-CV-6622 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 2, 2021) (preliminary settlement approval sought for a class action involving claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting fingerprint data without the consent of their workers). 10. $5.85 million – O ’ Sullivan, et al. v. WAM Holdings, d/b/a All-Star Management Inc. , Case No. 19- CH-11575 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Sept. 2, 2021) (final approval granted for settlement of a class action involving claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting workers’ fingerprint data in order to track their work). B. Top Ten Government-Initiated Monetary Settlements In 2021, the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) continued their previous pattern of aggressively litigating government enforcement actions, albeit with mixed results. Based on figures for the U.S. Government’s 2021 fiscal year, the EEOC filed 111 new merits lawsuits and collected $484 million on behalf of alleged