AT&T customers, retirees and employees were covered by several class actions and settlements in 2026, led by the $177 million data breach settlement a federal judge approved on October 2. No AT&T settlement is open for new claims, and no payment date for the data breach settlement had been announced as of October 21, 2026.
Allegations Only · Pending Cases
This article summarizes class action settlements, complaints and court rulings. The claims in the pending lawsuits are unproven allegations, and AT&T has not been found liable in any of them. Settlements resolve claims without an admission of wrongdoing. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
AT&T’s class action docket in 2026 runs through four groups of people: wireless customers whose data was exposed in the company’s two 2024 data breaches, retirees challenging how their pensions were calculated and transferred, employees in Washington state, and people who say AT&T kept texting them after they asked it to stop.The largest of these, the $177 million data breach settlement, received final approval on October 2, 2026, but has not yet paid. A proposed $184.1 million pension settlement is waiting on the court, a federal judge let AT&T out of a separate pension transfer suit in September, and a new text message suit was filed the same month.
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Every Case at a Glance
| Case | Issue | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Data breach settlementMDL No. 3114 · N.D. Tex. | Customer data exposed in two 2024 breaches | $177 million · final approval October 2, 2026 · payments pending |
| Pension calculationsScott v. AT&T Inc. · N.D. Cal. No. 3:20-cv-07094 | Outdated assumptions in joint-and-survivor annuities | $184.1 million proposed settlement · court approval pending |
| Pension risk transferPiercy v. AT&T Inc. · D. Mass. | $8.05 billion pension transfer to Athene | AT&T dismissed September 28, 2026; claim against State Street continues |
| Text message opt-outsGriffin v. AT&T Services, Inc. · S.D. Fla. No. 2:26-cv-14385 | Texts allegedly sent after STOP requests | Complaint filed September 28, 2026 |
| Washington wage and hourArevalo v. AT&T Mobility Services LLC · King County No. 25-2-20318-2 SEA | Washington non-exempt employees’ wage claims | $1.75 million · final approval September 11, 2026 · automatic payments |
| Sprint merger antitrustDale v. Deutsche Telekom AG · N.D. Ill. No. 1:22-cv-03189 | AT&T and Verizon customers sue T-Mobile over higher prices | Pending |
| Administrative fee and throttling$14 million and $60 million settlements | Undisclosed fees in California; throttled unlimited plans | Closed |
The $177 Million Data Breach Settlement
The AT&T data breach settlement resolves claims over two 2024 incidents that exposed customer data. Senior U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater of the Northern District of Texas granted final approval on October 2, 2026, overruling the objections. Claims closed December 18, 2025.Administrator Kroll estimates about $39 to $40 for claims where a Social Security number was exposed and $6.50 to $8.10 for the other cash tiers, with documented losses paid up to $5,000 for the first breach and $2,500 for the second. The settlement website says benefits are paid only after any appeals are resolved, and no payment date had been announced as of October 21, 2026. Some claimants received denial notices this fall; the deadline to contest a denial was October 17, 2026.
Cricket Wireless is owned by AT&T, and there is no separate Cricket settlement: Cricket customers whose data was involved in the July 2024 breach fall within the AT&T settlement’s second class.
Two Pension Cases Head in Different Directions
In Scott v. AT&T Inc., No. 3:20-cv-07094, workers alleged AT&T used outdated mortality assumptions and interest rates when converting single-life pension annuities into joint-and-survivor annuities, so married retirees were paid less than the actuarial equivalent. In July 2026 AT&T agreed to a proposed $184.1 million settlement covering about 300,000 current and former employees, made up of additional pension benefits and changes to the plan’s calculation factors, while denying wrongdoing. U.S. District Judge James Donato must approve it before class notices go out, and no preliminary approval order had been reported as of October 21, 2026.In the second case, Piercy v. AT&T Inc., retirees challenged AT&T’s $8.05 billion transfer of pension obligations to Athene Annuity and Life Assurance Co., selected in May 2023. On September 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Massachusetts adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed the claims against AT&T, finding the retirees did not allege facts showing AT&T influenced the choice of Athene, according to Chief Investment Officer magazine. A claim against State Street, the independent fiduciary that made the selection, will proceed to discovery.
The New Text Message Suit
Griffin v. AT&T Services, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-14385, filed September 28, 2026 in the Southern District of Florida, alleges AT&T kept sending marketing texts to people who replied STOP or otherwise asked it to stop, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It proposes a nationwide class of people who received two or more such texts within 12 months after opting out, over the four years before the filing. OCA’s page on the AT&T text message lawsuit covers the complaint in detail.Employment and Older Settlements
The AT&T Washington wage and hour settlement, Arevalo v. AT&T Mobility Services LLC, received final approval on September 11, 2026. Its $1.75 million fund covers non-exempt AT&T employees in Washington from July 11, 2022 through May 6, 2026, and pays class members automatically, so there is no claim form.Two older consumer settlements are closed: the $14 million administrative fee settlement for California post-paid wireless customers and the $60 million FTC data throttling settlement for unlimited-plan customers throttled between 2011 and 2015.
AT&T customers are also the plaintiffs, not the defendant, in Dale v. Deutsche Telekom AG, an antitrust case in Chicago alleging the 2020 T-Mobile and Sprint merger led AT&T and Verizon customers to pay artificially inflated prices. That case is covered in OCA’s T-Mobile class action roundup.
Questions
When will the AT&T data breach settlement pay?
A federal judge granted final approval of the $177 million AT&T data breach settlement on October 2, 2026. The official settlement website says benefits are paid only after any appeals are resolved, and no payment date had been announced as of October 21, 2026.
Is any AT&T settlement still accepting claims?
None of the AT&T settlements described on this page is accepting new claims as of October 21, 2026. The data breach claim deadline was December 18, 2025, the Washington wage and hour settlement pays class members automatically, and the proposed pension settlement has not reached the class notice stage.
What is the AT&T pension settlement about?
Scott v. AT&T Inc., pending in the Northern District of California, alleges AT&T used outdated mortality assumptions and interest rates when converting single-life pension annuities into joint-and-survivor annuities, shortchanging about 300,000 current and former employees. AT&T agreed in July 2026 to a proposed $184.1 million settlement and denies wrongdoing. The settlement needs court approval before notices go out.
What is the AT&T text message lawsuit about?
Griffin v. AT&T Services, Inc., filed September 28, 2026 in the Southern District of Florida, alleges AT&T kept sending marketing texts to people who had replied STOP or otherwise asked it to stop, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It proposes a nationwide class. The allegations are unproven and there is nothing to claim.
Sources
• In re: AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 3:24-md-03114-D (N.D. Tex.), final approval order of October 2, 2026, and the official settlement website, as reported on OCA’s settlement page• Reuters via U.S. News & World Report, “AT&T Reaches $184.1 Million Settlement With Employees Over Pension Plan” (July 10, 2026)
• Chief Investment Officer, “PRT Claims Against AT&T Dismissed, but Those Against State Street May Proceed” (September 29, 2026)
• Complaint, Griffin v. AT&T Services, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-14385 (S.D. Fla.), as reported on OCA’s lawsuit page
• Settlement documents, Arevalo v. AT&T Mobility Services LLC, No. 25-2-20318-2 SEA (King County Super. Ct.), as reported on OCA’s settlement page
