It actually addresses this. The report explains that there's a chance the whole thing would have been invalidated by an appellate judge.
Still, personally as a class member I would've pressed for more, and I bet it's because the firm has different incentives. They probably stand to get something on the order of $100M of that settlement. They're thinking, $100M in the hand is worth $1B in the bush. Especially since going to trial explodes their costs.
But at the ~$3K level most class members stand to gain (on average), I bet most would bet that for a chance at $30K. I would. Sucks that the class members don't have a say.
First, the lawyers don't get to decide whether to settle, the lead plaintiffs do. Second, class members can opt-out of the settlement. As 'danielweber points out, nobody will do so because litigating against employers would be a huge black mark on their resume. That's the real kicker here.
As a general principle, I have serious concerns about the agency problems that exist in the class action system as currently structured. I think it's way too common for lead plaintiffs to settle for too little. However, in this case I think they and their lawyers did everyone a favor. Nobody would've pursued these cases individually, not even if they stood to get $30k. Every dollar the class plaintiffs recover above $0 is gravy.
I have a feeling the law firm is in the driver's seat here. I'd assume they organized/selected the lead plaintiffs, so that gives them some selection control.
Opting out individually is in no way, shape or form a substitute for negotiating a larger class action settlement. The whole point of class action is that there's strength in numbers. Even if you didn't care about "black marks", most individuals would not be able to bear the cost and risk of taking these guys to court.
I can't believe there's a 90% chance that the class action would be rejected. The companies got off ridiculously cheap. Yet another example of illegal behavior remaining very profitable even after legal action.
Class members can opt out of the settlement, and if enough do it (IANAL but one would probably know the magic number) the settlement doesn't hold.
There is heavy social pressure not to opt out, though. It would be very public. And actively participating in a lawsuit against an employer puts a black mark on your resume for any future employers. (Which as I pointed out elsewhere can be unfair: sometimes employees sue for bullshit reasons, and sometimes employees sue for incredibly legitimate reasons.)
Still, personally as a class member I would've pressed for more, and I bet it's because the firm has different incentives. They probably stand to get something on the order of $100M of that settlement. They're thinking, $100M in the hand is worth $1B in the bush. Especially since going to trial explodes their costs.
But at the ~$3K level most class members stand to gain (on average), I bet most would bet that for a chance at $30K. I would. Sucks that the class members don't have a say.