The cost of settling workplace class-action lawsuits reached a record high in 2021, defying expectations that the COVID-19 pandemic would decrease the size and reduce the number of payouts, according to a new report by the Seyfarth Shaw law firm in Chicago.
“The plaintiffs’ bar capitalized on a recovering economy and aligned priorities with the new Biden Administration to secure a record financial haul in 2021,” stated the author, Seyfarth partner Gerald L. Maatman Jr. “As the defense based on arbitration agreements with class action waivers faces increased attacks across the country, employers can look at this past year as a precursor to new legal challenges and an explosion of class and collective actions in 2022.”
