Recently, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $85 million dollars to settle 39 consolidated wage and hour class actions. As part of the settlement members of the class will get between $100 and $1,000 each, but the big winners were the trial lawyers. They will receive a whopping $28 million dollars in fees. 

These wage and hour class actions have become a top trend in employment law over the past few years. Typically, these wage and hour class actions have included off-the-clock work, failure to pay overtime, misclassification of exempt positions or independent contractors, meal and rest break violations, failure to pay commissions or bonuses, paycheck stub violations, uniform violations, and waiting time violations. Based on the payout, it's clear why trial lawyers are all too eager to take on such suits.

Many employers could do more to ensure they don’t get hit with such cases, but the fact is the matters are often beyond their control. For example, suppose you work in a home improvement store. You take off your vest, walk to the back of the store and a customer asks you a question. Violation. You were on your break. Give me a break.

The California Chamber of Commerce is urging the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a district court ruling that could result in even more wage and hour lawsuits against California employers. Since 2005, California employers have been sued in more than 2,000 wage and hour class actions, with the number increasing each year according to www.courthousenews.com.

This insanity needs to stop. All of these lawsuit settlements are passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices. The alleged victims walk away with next to nothing and the plaintiffs' attorney walk away with millions.