Allstate Employee Class Action Lawsuit Reaches $5.5 Million Settlement after 10 Years

An Allstate employee class action lawsuit has taken ten years, but it has finally settled for $5.5 million in a California court.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John S. Wiley said, “It’s over $1,000 a person so the class members are going to be happy to get these checks. They’re definitely going to cash them, unlike the check for 10 cents my wife got in a class action settlement I think she’s using now as a bookmark.”

The Allstate employee class action lawsuit settlement covers two Classes. The larger is a Class of approximately 2,376 Allstate employees who allegedly received wrong wage statements. The other Class consists of 280 Allstate adjusters who said they were not paid for the time they spent doing extra office duties or for overtime.

The adjusters originally filed their claim in December 2007, accusing Allstate of not paying for time spent checking voicemails, securing travel changes, mapping directions to inspection locations and completing certain phone calls.

The adjusters’ lead plaintiffs were Christopher W., John V. and Kenneth K. They said Allstate when changed the classification of the adjusters from salaried to hourly back then, the company didn’t keep accurate records to appropriately pay employees. They alleged violations of several wage and hour laws. The Allstate employee class action lawsuit accused the company of failing to pay minimum wage, failing to pay overtime, failing to provide meal and rest periods, failing to provide accurate and itemized wage statements and unfair business practices.

The Allstate employee class action lawsuit went around the court system for years. The adjusters class of 280 employees was certified as one class, and the 2,375 employees who alleged they received inaccurate wage reports were certified as another class in 2010 by a state court judge.

Allstate tried to argue in January 2012 that their situation was much like that of Wal-mart in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Dukes because a high court overturned class certification in that case. The court determined that one and a half million female Wal-Mart employees who alleged sex discrimination didn’t have enough common ground to go forth as a class. Judge Wiley agreed that Allstate should face each individual class member, so he decertified the class of 280 adjusters.

In 2013, Judge Wiley’s decision was reversed by the California Court of Appeals Second Appellate District that recertified the adjusters’ Class.

Judge Wiley came back in 2016 and decertified both the 2,375-member class and the 280-member Class.

In December 2017, the Second Appellate District recertified the  2,375-member class, but maintaining Judge Wiley’s ruling regarding the 280-member adjuster class.

Apparently, that compromise convinced both sides to negotiate, and the $5.5 million Allstate employee class action lawsuit settlement was reached.

The Allstate Employee Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. BC382577, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles.

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