18th Annual Workplace Class Action Report - 2022 Edition

6 Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report: 2022 Edition The settlement value of the top 10 ERISA class actions also climbed in 2021. The top 10 settlements totaled $411.05 million, an increase over the 2020 total of $380.10 million as well as the 2019 total of $376.35 million and the 2018 total of $313.40 million. ERISA settlements in 2021 climbed back closer to the levels employers saw from 2014 to 2017, during which period settlements totaled $1.31 billion (2014), $926.5 million (2015), $807.4 million (2016), and $927.8 million (2017), for an average over the four-year period from 2014 through 2017 of $992.93 million. 1 This trend is illustrated by the following chart of settlements from 2013 to 2021: The top 10 settlements in the private plaintiff statutory class action category ( e.g. , cases brought for breach of contract for employee benefits, workplace antitrust laws, or statutes such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act or the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) skyrocketed in 2021 to a new high. The settlements totaled $1.671 billion, which represents a significant increase over every year from 2016 forward and a reversal of a downward year-over-year trend that began in 2018. The previous high water mark, set in 2017, was $487.28 million. In 2018, settlements tapered to $411.15 million, followed by $319.65 million in 2019, and $244.55 in 2020. 1 The total for the top ten ERISA class action settlements was $1.31 billion in 2014, $926.5 million in 2015, $807.4 in 2016, and $927.8 in 2017.