Companies see big rise in labor & employment class actions and defense spending

The 2023 Carlton Fields Class Action Survey has revealed a significant increase in the number of labor and employment class action lawsuits and the amount companies are spending to defend those lawsuits. That is sobering news for employers and raises questions about what the class action landscape may look like for employers in the future.

Labor & employment class actions by the numbers

In 2020, labor and employment class actions comprised 22.5% of class actions against survey respondents. In 2021, that number rose to 25.6%. In 2022, that number jumped to 33.6%. Almost 75% of companies surveyed reported facing at least one labor and employment class action in the last five years. That number was also up substantially from prior years.

Perhaps more concerning for employers, in 2021, labor and employment class actions accounted for approximately 23.5% of the average class action budget. In 2022, that number jumped over 11 percentage points to 34.8%.

Employment issues that have led to the rise