Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, SETTLEMENTS—E.D. Cal.: NCAA’s $300 million settlement involving volunteer coaches approved, (May 14, 2026)

By Steven Melendez

The settlement resolves antitrust challenges to a since-repealed NCAA bylaw barring volunteer coaches from receiving pay.

The federal district court in Sacramento, California has granted final approval of a $300 million class action settlement in a case brought by “volunteer coaches” against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) arguing the NCAA violated antitrust law by prohibiting such coaches from receiving pay. The settlement includes 30% in attorney fees for plaintiffs’ counsel as well as $25,000 service awards for each of five class representatives. The settlement covers all sports except baseball, where former “volunteer” coaches reached their own $49.25 million settlement approved last year (Ray v. National Collegiate Athletic Association , No. 1:23-cv-00425-WBS-CSK (E.D. Cal. May 12, 2026)).

Background. The case arose from allegations that the NCAA and its member educational institutions conspired to limit the compensation of assistant coaches in violation of antitrust laws. For years, NCAA Division I rules had limited the number of paid coaching spots and required that any additional coaches, deemed “volunteer” coaches, receive no benefits or pay from athletic departments.

The federal district court in Sacramento, California, had previously given preliminary approval to the settlement, giving class members the option to opt out of the settlement or submit objections before a fairness hearing on May 11, 2026. A class of “[a]ll persons who, from March 17, 2019, to June 30, 2023, worked for an NCAA Division I sports program other than baseball in the position of ‘volunteer coach,’ as designated by NCAA Bylaws,” was certified by the court on March 11, 2025, and estimated to contain 7,718 members. Only 12 members have opted out and none have filed objections, the court noted.

Settlement terms. The parties initially engaged in mediation in 2024 but failed to “make meaningful progress.” After “substantial further litigation in the form of extensive discovery and motion practice,” settlement talks resumed in September 2025, according to the ruling. A full-day mediation session on October 10, 2025, led to the settlement, which the court found met requirements that a settlement come from “arm’s-length negotiations.”

An expert for the coaches found aggregate damages from lost wages to be $253,900,000, and the total from lost wages and health benefits to be $299,600,000, according to the ruling. The common settlement fund is $303 million, or 119% of the estimated damages from lost wages, or 101% of estimated damages from both lost wages and health benefits. The coaches proposed to divide that into $208,375,652.62 in payments to class members, $90.9 million in plaintiffs’ counsel fees, $3,599,347.38 for costs and expenses, and $125,000.00 for total incentive awards split equally among the five class representatives.

The court found the portion allocated for class members—approximately 68.77%—to be a “strong result for the class,” as was the “five-figure payout” to be received by the average class member. Additionally, the court found the agreement does not “improperly discriminate” between class segments, with members to be paid based on hours worked and the school for which they worked. A compensation floor provision guarantees each class member will receive at least $5,000.

Fees and costs. Counsel for the coaches took on the case on a contingency basis, and the coaches argued the $90.9 million fee is reasonable “in light of the result obtained and substantial risk taken in this case,” citing numerous other antitrust class actions with more than 30% fee payments. Counsel indicated they spent more than 35,622.50 hours on the case, with typical hourly rates for partners between $925 and $1,400 and typical rates for associates between $400 and $850.

The court noted that the Ninth Circuit has established 25% as a “benchmark fee,” but courts in the circuit have often exceeded that percentage. “Given that the requested fee is in line with the typical practice in the Ninth Circuit and in this district, the court agrees that plaintiffs’ counsel’s requested percentage of the common fund is reasonable,” the court found.

Additionally, the court found documented costs of $3,599,347.38, including “research fees, expert consultation fees, travel expenses, transcript fees, service fees, mediation fees, and other court costs,” to be reasonable litigation expenses.

Service awards. A $5,000 service award is considered presumptively reasonable, but courts can, and often do, allow larger fees, according to the ruling. Here, with the coaches seeking $25,000 each for the five named plaintiffs, the court had previously requested a “more substantial report” of their contributions and “the necessity of having five representatives.”

Plaintiffs’ counsel indicated each of the five was necessary and that they “collectively devoted hundreds of hours assisting in the case” and took a substantial risk in bringing the case, with potential cost to their careers and reputations, with the NCAA arguing none of them were skilled enough for paid coaching roles. The coaches also indicated that the five representatives “each with their individual perspectives, proved critical to navigating class certification, working with [an expert] to design a damages model grounded in the real-world realities of the coaching market, and ultimately securing an excellent result for the Class,” according to the ruling.

Noting that information, and the fact that the awards represent less than 0.04% of the settlement fund and less than the recovery of the average class member, the court approved the incentive awards.

Notice to class members. Plaintiffs’ counsel provided proposed email, postcards, and media notices to be sent to class members, according to the ruling in the case, and the parties selected A.B. Data, Ltd.’s Class Action Administration Company as settlement administrator. The administrator notified members via email, first-class U.S. mail, and a notice posted on the settlement website, and searched for forwarding address information where mail was returned as undeliverable. The court found the notice procedure sufficient under the law.

The Case is No. 1:23-cv-00425-WBS-CSK.

Judge: Shubb, W.

Attorneys: Abou Amara (Gustafson Gluek PLLC) for Shannon Ray. Carolyn Luedtke (Munger Tolles & Olson LLP) for National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Companies: National Collegiate Athletic Association

Cases: WageHour ClassActions AttorneysFees CaliforniaNews