Class Action Roundup – May 20

Ticketmaster Settlement Finally Takes the Stage

After more than a decade, we will finally be able to claim part of a Ticketmaster class action settlement. That’s right, Ticketmaster has agreed to pay $400 million to settle claims that it unlawfully hiked up ticket fees for things like “order processing” and “shipping costs.” The settlement is set to cover close to 50 million people who bought tickets from Ticketmaster’s site between October 21, 1999 and February 27, 2013 and offers customers credit off future purchases, depending on how many tickets were purchased during that time period. For more info on the settlement, check out this article written by the staff over at Billboard.com.

Obama Extends Overtime Pay Protections

The Obama administration has announced that it will finally be updating a Department of Labor regulation that has only been changed once in the past 40 years. When the updated rule goes into effect in December, the salary threshold for overtime exemption will be nearly doubled to $47,476 – extending overtime pay protections to more than 4 million Americans who currently don’t qualify. For more information and insight, check out this USA Today article by Paul Davidson.

College Football Players Sue Schools, NCAA Over Concussions

Former college football players filed six class actions over the concussions they sustained during their time playing the sport. And, there are some big names defending claims that they negligently handled their players’ head injuries. Vanderbilt, Auburn, Penn State, Georgia, Oregon and Utah, as well as three notable conferences (the Pacific-12, the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference), were all hit with lawsuits. The former players are claiming that they’re now suffering lasting effects from the injuries they sustained as a result of their schools’ alleged disregard for their safety. Ben Strauss wrote about it in his article for the New York Times. I highly recommend that you check it out.

Lyft Doubles its Class Action Settlement Offer

After its original settlement offer was rejected, Lyft has agreed to pay $27 million to settle claims that it misclassified drivers as independent contractors when they were actually employees. Under the terms of the settlement, drivers could receive as much as $6,000 or as little as $25 – but the settlement still doesn’t address the issue of independent contractor vs. employee. Check out Alison Griswold’s article over at Quartz for more information. Thanks for the great article Alison!