Thenumber of class-actionrulings and dollar amount of settlements reachedsoared in 2017, according to Seyfarth Shaw's 14thannual Workplace Class Action LitigationReport, and settlements reached in 2018 look likely tocontinue to cost employers more.

Accordingto HRDive,not only did the number of class-action rulings hit a record, at1,408, but wage and hoursettlements alone accounted for a combined $1.2billion out of the total of $2.72 billion.

Saysthe report, “[T]he events of the past year in the workplace classaction world demonstrate that the array of litigation issues facingbusinesses are continuing to accelerate at a rapid pace while alsoundergoing significant change.” This is despite the “transition tonew leadership in the White House in 2017,” it adds.

In2017, four trends in workplace class action litigation took thespotlight.

Firstwas the dramatic rise in the monetary value of the top workplaceclass-action settlements.

Second,federal and state courts put out numerous favorable class actioncertification rulings for the plaintiffs, but “evolving case lawprecedents and new defense approaches resulted in better outcomesfor employers in opposing class certification requests,” accordingto the report.

Third,filings and settlements of government enforcement litigation didn'tdo an about-face from the Obama-era pro-worker stance last year.Instead, government enforcement litigation actually increased in2017.

However,in 2018, it looks as if that trend is likely to change under theTrump administration's appointees and direction, but that doesn'tnecessarily mean that a lack of government litigation on the behalfof workers will mean a reduction in worker challenges. Instead,“the ultimate effect … may well prompt the private plaintiffs'class action bar to 'fill the void' and expand the volume ofworkplace litigation pursued against employers over the coming yearas the DOL and the EEOC adjust their litigation enforcementactivities,” the report says.

Fourth,more pro-business decisions by the Supreme Court, coupled with theappointment of Neil Gorsuch and key decisions to be delivered in2018, look likely to “change the class action playing field inprofound ways…. [L]itigation dynamics may well be reshaped in waysthat further change the playbook for prosecuting and defendingclass actions.”

Thereport also expects more decertification wins for employers, whowon 63 percent of wage and hour decertification rulings last yearthat was up nearly 20 percent from 2016.

BenefitsPro