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Top 5 Largest Wage and Hour Settlements (2015–2025): Know Your Overtime Rights
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Wage and hour rights—like the right to earn minimum wage and overtime—are protected by laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Yet every year, hundreds of thousands of workers fall victim to wage theft and unpaid overtime.
In fact, the top 10 wage and hour settlements in 2021 alone totaled over $640 million, reflecting a surge in class actions by employees to recover stolen wages.
Remember, under the FLSA covered employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a week at a rate of at least time-and-a-half. If you suspect your employer isn’t paying you fairly, don’t be afraid to speak up – an experienced overtime lawyer can help you fight for the wages you’re owed.
FedEx Ground – $240 Million Driver Misclassification Settlement (2016)
FedEx was involved in nationwide litigation for misclassifying its delivery drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, allowing the company to avoid overtime pay and other benefits. FedEx Ground Package System paid $240 million to settle lawsuits in 20 states over claims that it had misclassified approximately 12,000 delivery drivers as independent contractors. By treating drivers as independent contractors instead of employees, they sought to use the misclassified employment status as a basis to deny overtime pay for hours worked over 40.
The multi-state settlement took place just after a related $226 million settlement reached the year before in California, bringing FedEx’s total payments for these driver misclassification cases to almost $466 million.
Allegations: FedEx drivers were required to wear FedEx uniforms, drive FedEx-branded trucks, and follow company procedures, yet FedEx avoided paying payroll taxes, overtime, and benefits by deeming them “contractors.” Drivers claimed they routinely worked over 40 hours without overtime and were treated as employees in most meaningful ways under the law.
After several federal appellate courts ruled that FedEx exerted so much control over drivers that they were effectively employees, FedEx chose to settle rather than continue protracted litigation.
Outcome: Thousands of FedEx drivers received settlement checks (some tens of thousands of dollars each). FedEx, while denying wrongdoing, had to fundamentally change its business model – it now contracts with intermediary companies that hire the drivers.
Lesson for workers: Just because your employer labels you an “independent contractor” doesn’t mean you are one.
If they control your schedule, uniform and work methods you may actually be an employee entitled to overtime and other protections.
Walt Disney Co. (Disneyland) – $233 Million Wage Theft Class Action (2024)
They may have Disney princesses cartoonishly dancing across the screens, but when it comes to treating their employees appropriately, Disney has been less than noble. A class action lawsuit claimed Disney didn’t pay the appropriate local minimum wage, impacting tens of thousands of people who worked in the park. At the end of 2024, Disney agreed to settle the case for $233 million to resolve a wage theft case brought by Disneyland Resort workers in Anaheim, California. This historic settlement – the largest wage-and-hour payout in California’s history – came after a multiyear battle over a city living wage ordinance.
Allegations: In 2018, Anaheim city voters approved “Measure L” – requiring that any resort benefiting from city subsidies (like Disney) must pay workers a minimum wage of $15/hour (with $1 annual increases) in addition to benefits and protections under California law.
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The class action, representing roughly 25,000 – 50,000 hourly Disneyland employees, claimed Disney violated the law by failing to raise wages as required. Many “cast members” were paid below the wage floor required by law from 2019-2023, while Disney argued in court that it was not “technically” covered under Measure L. The trial court ruled in Disney’s favor, and held it was not bound by Measure L, then an appellate court reversed that ruling, and finally the California Supreme Court held the ruling in favor of the workers. Facing a likely trial and extensive penalties, Disney opted to settle.
Outcome: The $233 million settlement (pending final court approval as of early 2025) will provide back pay, interest, and penalties to over 50,000 current and former park employees.
Lesson for workers: This case shows the power of local wage laws and the power of collective action mechanisms, that there is strength in numbers. Even one of America’s biggest employers was held accountable for shortchanging workers. If you suspect your employer isn’t following minimum wage or overtime laws (federal, state, or local), you can fight back.
Low-wage workers often fear retaliation, but class actions can compel companies to pay workers what they are lawfully owed. Consider contacting an employment law firm to discuss your options.
G4S (Wackenhut Security) – $130 Million Meal/Rest Break Settlement (2019)
In 2019, G4S Secure Solutions (formerly Wackenhut), a private security contractor, $130 million to settle a California class action regarding unpaid breaks. This lawsuit was filed on behalf of 13,500 security guards employed by G4S during a nine-year time frame.
Allegations: The security officers claimed that G4S did not provide meal and rest breaks required under California law. The lawsuit also alleged inaccuracies in wage statements.
California law gives nonexempt employees mandated break time. Under the law, non-exempt employees must receive 30-minute meal breaks by the end of their 5th hour and a second (30-minute) meal break by the end of their 10th hour, plus 10-minute paid rest breaks roughly every 4 hours. In California, if an employer does not offer rest and meal breaks, the employee is entitled to an additional hour of pay for each violation.
The lawsuit claimed G4S’s guards were typically working through their breaks or fantasy breaks without compensation.
Outcome: To avoid a trial after the court certified the case as a class action, G4S agreed to pay up to $130 million in back wages and penalties. This settlement, one of the largest in California that year, meant thousands of security guards finally were paid for their break time.
Lesson for workers: Even at times when you don’t work, like meal and rest periods, there are wage and hour law protections. If a job is so demanding that you can’t take your legally-mandated breaks (or if you’re forced to work during lunch), your employer must compensate you. Large settlements like this put employers on notice that ignoring breaking laws can be extremely costly.
If you consistently miss breaks or are pressured to remain on duty, document it and know that you may be entitled to extra pay.
Knight-Swift Transportation – $100 Million Overtime Misclassification Settlement (2019)
Swift Transportation Co. (now part of Knight-Swift Transportation) settled a 10-year class action lawsuit brought by approximately 20,000 truck drivers. The settlement amount was $100 million.
Allegations: The complaint against Swift (Van Dusen v. Swift Transportation, filed in 2009) alleged that Swift misclassified employees as “independent owner-operators” to avoid complying with wage laws. Employees of Swift had to enter into a lease agreement to lease their own trucks and pay for fuel, maintenance and repairs, and other expenses out of their own pockets, which sometimes drove their net pay below minimum wage.
The drivers also alleged that they were improperly denied overtime for working long hours because they were wrongfully classified as “contractors.” It also included state law claims and even a forced labor claim (because their leases locked them into the exploitative agreements). Swift battled fiercely against the lawsuit, including trying to enforce arbitration agreements to avoid the class action lawsuit altogether. After more than 10 years of litigation – including a major ruling that interstate truckers cannot be forced to arbitrate claims against their employers – Swift ultimately decided to settle in 2019 for $100 million.
Outcome: The settlement provided payments to tens of thousands of drivers, many of whom had struggled under costly lease programs. Notably, Swift did not admit wrongdoing, but the size of the payout sent a strong message through the trucking industry.
Companies may call you an “owner-operator” or “franchisee,” but if all your income comes from one company and that company dictates your work, you might actually be an employee and entitled to overtime pay
If you’re paying work expenses that your employer should cover, or working 60+ hour weeks with no overtime because of an “independent contractor” label, talk to a wage and hour lawyer about your situation.
Providence Health & Services – $98 Million Unpaid Wages Verdict (2024)
Not all big recoveries come via settlements – some are won by verdict. In April 2024, a Seattle jury delivered a $98 million verdict against Providence Health & Services, a major hospital system, for unpaid wages to about 33,000 hourly employees.
Allegations: The class action in Washington state court alleged that Providence did not provide a second meal break when an employee worked a shift of more than 10 hours and used a timekeeping system that rounded down the time employees worked. Washington law (just like California) requires a second 30-minute meal period for shifts that were longer than 10 hours in duration, but the hospitals in the Providence system inaudibly deducted meal periods even if nurses and other workers could not take break periods.
Providence’s timeclocks rounded work hours to the benefit of Providence, by rounding up or rounding down to increase or decrease in 15-minute increments. For example, if an employee clocked in a minute or two early or stayed 5 minutes late, the employee would lose that time all together.
Outcome: The jury found Providence’s practices willfully violated wage laws, awarding roughly $98 million in back wages and damages.
Lesson for workers: This verdict underscores that seemingly small wage violations (a few minutes shaved off here, a missed break there) can add up to huge sums – and they are illegal. Employers cannot dock your time or automatically round down your hours to save money. Nor can they just ignore breaking requirements to keep the workflow going. If you consistently work through lunch or notice your clock-in/clock-out times don’t match your pay, those are red flags of wage theft. Workers should keep their own records when possible and bring up discrepancies.
With the help of an overtime lawyer, even “minor” pay issues can be challenged, and you could be entitled to double damages if an employer knowingly broke the law.
Standing Up for Your Wage and Hour Rights
Each of these five cases – spanning industries from package delivery and theme parks to private security, trucking, and healthcare – shows how wage and hour violations can impact tens of thousands of workers and cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars.
For workers, the takeaway is empowering. You have the right to be paid for every hour you work – and for overtime hours at 1.5x your rate. You have the right to meal and rest breaks where required by law. You have the right not to be misclassified as a loophole to deny you fair pay. And if those rights are violated, you have the power to challenge it.
If you suspect you’re a victim of wage theft or overtime violations, consider reaching out for a free consultation with an overtime lawyer – you may be entitled to recover unpaid wages, double damages, and more.
https://www.law360.com/articles/807629/fedex-to-pay-240m-to-end-driver-wage-claims-in-20-states
https://www.law360.com/articles/1122933/security-co-to-pay-130m-to-settle-guards-meal-break-suit
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/hospitals/providence-healthcare-98-million-verdict-unpaid-wages
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/23-flsa-overtime
