Here are some of the major employment law and unpaid wage announcements and settlements for October, November, and December 2025. 

In October 2025, the California Attorney General’s Office announced a $10 million judgement for workers misclassified as independent contractors in California.  Over in New Jersey, state officials are alleging that Amazon also has an issue with improper classification of employees, claiming Amazon has delivery drivers classified as independent contractors that should be receiving normal wages and benefits as employees.   

In November 2025, the NCAA agreed to settle a class action regarding more than 7,000 volunteer college coaches alleging wage fixing for $303 million.  Also in November, the nations largest coffee chain announced a $39M New York city labor settlement for allegations of local rules between 2021 and 2024. The D.C. Attorney General also announced $725,000 for a construction company allegedly failing to pay “prevailing wages”. Beyond misclassification, California has also recently worked to generate settlements for workers for a broad variety of issues:  No-poach agreements where companies collude to not hire each other workers and suppress wages and salaries, worker loan repayments, and additional misclassification by employers.   

In December 2025, The New York Attorney General settles allegations of underpayment to home health aides under the New York Wage Parity Law, resulting in $45 million to home health aid workers in the state, and the D.C. Attorney General announces a $1.5 settlement with a construction company regarding allegations their subcontractors misclassified hundreds of workers. 

As of January 1st 2026, Nineteen states will welcome new minimum wages for (most) workers.  While the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour, the majority of workers in the United States fall under additional minimum wages supplied by their state, county or city. These are the new minimum wages that go into effect January 1st, 2026:   

Lawmakers in two of the largest states both passed laws curbing the use of algorithms to set prices. In California, AB325 limits the use of algorithmic price setting across all products and goes into effect in 2026.  In New York, the algorithms being targeted are those specifically used to set prices for rent, after consumer distrust and antitrust lawsuits regarding rental price setting by algorithms.

“Made in USA” is not just a marketing claim, it is a claim of origin with strong legal protections against misuse. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces a strict national standard, U.S. Customs has its own country-of-origin rules for imports, and several industries (textiles, wool, fur, and meat/poultry/eggs) have sector-specific mandates. Missteps can trigger civil penalties, injunctions, and class actions lawsuits. 

On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University, that eased plaintiffs ability to bring cases for 401k and retirement account excessive fees. Previously the Second Circuit held that plaintiffs bringing claims under ERISA § 406(a) had to plead that exemptions did not apply, an additional early burden to proceed with a claim. The Supreme Court reversed that requirement, ruling that plaintiffs are only required to plead elements of a prohibited transaction (example: a plan engaged in a service transaction with a party in interest at excessive cost). 

Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim is proud to announce that Todd Schneider, a founding partner of the firm, has been inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a distinguished national association of trial lawyers and judges committed to protecting the constitutional right to trial by jury. Founded in 1958, ABOTA is dedicated to elevating the standards of legal advocacy and promoting civility and professionalism within the trial bar.

Raw oysters are prized as a delicacy, but they also carry serious risks if mishandled. Because oysters filter large volumes of water, they can accumulate harmful bacteria and viruses such as Vibrio, Pseudomonas, and norovirus. To reduce those dangers, strict federal and state rules including harvest tags, refrigeration requirements, and use-by limits govern every step from harvest to restaurant plate. These safeguards are not just red tape. They are critical public-health protections that, when ignored, can lead to devastating illnesses, amputations, or even death.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

ATTENTION: ALL PEOPLE WITH A MOBILITY DISABILITY: If you have used, tried to use, or think you will use any of the City of Oakland’s sidewalks, crosswalks, or curb ramps, and have had or will have difficulty using them because they were too steep, narrow, sloped, damaged, in need of repair, or otherwise inaccessible to you because of your mobility disability you may be a member of the proposed settlement class in this lawsuit. This is a court-authorized notice.

ATENCIÓN: TODAS LAS PERSONAS CON UNA DISCAPACIDAD DE MOVILIDAD: Si ha usado, intentado usar o cree que usará alguna de las aceras, pasos peatonales o rampas en las aceras de la ciudad de Oakland, y ha tenido o tendrá dificultades para usarlas porque estaban muy elevadas, angostas, inclinadas, da adas, necesitaban reparaciones o, de otra forma, no eran accesibles para usted por su discapacidad de movilidad, es posible que usted sea miembro del acuerdo colectivo propuesto en esta demanda. Este es un aviso autorizado por el tribunal.

注意：所有行動不便人士：如果您曾經使用、嘗試使用或預計使用屋崙 市的人行道、行人穿越道或無障礙坡道，卻因為這些設施過於陡峭、狹窄、傾斜、受損、需要維修而曾經或將難以使用，或因其他原因您因導致行動不便無法使用，則您可能是本次訴訟擬議和解集體中的一員。這是法院授權的通知書。

Across retail stores, hotels, restaurants, and custodial services, a troubling trend persists where job titles are strategically used to deny workers overtime pay. Workers can be assigned titles including “assistant manager,” “team lead,” or “coordinator”, and are made exempt and lose overtime pay despite spending the majority of their time performing the same tasks as hourly employees—stocking shelves, running cash registers, cleaning rooms, or serving customers.

An investigation by Schneider Wallace shows that this practice may not affect all workers equally. Women are significantly more likely than men to hold job titles linked to misclassification when Schneider Wallace reviewed LinkedIn job title data as of May of 2025. This form of wage theft not only undercuts their earnings, but deepens existing gender pay gaps in frontline industries.

On July 8th, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced a new whistleblower reward program, in partnership with the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Postal Service (USPS OIG) and the United States Postal Service (USPS).

The Whistleblower Rewards Program offers a monetary incentive to whistleblowers who voluntarily provide information through the program to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, with awards of up to 30% of the ultimate recovery when the recovery includes a criminal fine that exceeds $1 million.