About 1,456 current and former part-time faculty at Long Beach City College are covered by an $18 million settlement of their lawsuit over unpaid grading, preparation and office hours, which the Long Beach Community College District’s board approved in January 2026. No settlement website, notice or claim form has been made public, and the outcome of the court’s July 2026 approval hearing has not been reported.
What Is This About?
Two part-time instructors sued the Long Beach Community College District, which runs Long Beach City College, on April 4, 2022 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The case is Roberts v. Long Beach Community College District, No. 22STCV11381. They alleged the district paid part-time faculty only for time spent teaching in the classroom, and not for required work outside it — preparing syllabi and lessons, grading, meeting with students, holding office hours and administrative tasks.The district agreed to pay $18 million to settle the case. Its board approved the deal in January 2026 and set aside $20 million for the settlement and related costs, EdSource reported in February. A district spokesperson said settling “allows the District to avoid prolonged litigation.”
Free settlement alerts
Get notified when new class actions open to claims
Join thousands of readers who get the latest class action settlements you may qualify for — delivered straight to your inbox.
What the Court Ruled Before the Settlement
The case had already gone the adjuncts’ way before it settled. On February 18, 2025, ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment, Judge Stuart M. Rice held that the district’s part-time faculty are not exempt from California’s minimum wage requirements, because their pay does not meet the salary threshold for the professional exemption, and that the district violated those requirements by not paying faculty for hours worked outside the classroom. The ruling is quoted and attached in a July 2025 filing with California’s Public Employment Relations Board in a separate dispute.That ruling was stayed and was not a final judgment. A claim for civil penalties under California’s Private Attorneys General Act was dismissed because of limits on suing public entities, the California Teachers Association reported, while the core wage claims continued. The district has not admitted liability.
How Much Class Members Could Get
According to a court filing by plaintiffs’ attorney Eileen B. Goldsmith, as reported by EdSource, the proposed settlement would pay the 1,456 class members more than $11,000 each. Individual amounts, the formula for dividing the money, and the amounts requested for attorneys’ fees and costs have not been made public. The CTA said in April that payments could go out as early as fall 2026 if the settlement is approved.What Is Not Public Yet
OpenClassActions.com searched for the official settlement documents and found none posted publicly as of October 22, 2026:- no settlement website, online claim form or claim form PDF;
- no long-form or short-form class notice;
- no publicly posted settlement agreement — it sits in the Los Angeles Superior Court file, which is not available free online;
- no named settlement administrator;
- no report of the outcome of the July 1, 2026 approval hearing.
Why the Case Matters Beyond Long Beach
California community college districts rely heavily on part-time faculty, and more than 20 similar wage-and-hour suits are reportedly pending against other districts. Plaintiffs’ counsel told EdSource the case has already had a “major impact throughout the state,” as some districts negotiate contract terms to pay adjuncts for preparation and grading time.Questions
Who is covered by the Long Beach City College $18 million settlement?
The settlement resolves a class action by current and former part-time (adjunct) faculty of the Long Beach Community College District. Plaintiffs’ counsel told the court the class has 1,456 members. The exact class definition and class period are in the settlement agreement, which has not been posted publicly.
How much will each Long Beach City College adjunct receive?
According to a court filing by plaintiffs’ counsel, as reported by EdSource, the proposed settlement would pay the 1,456 class members more than $11,000 each. Individual amounts are not public, and the figure depends on the court’s approval of the settlement and of attorneys’ fees and costs.
Is there a claim form for the Long Beach City College adjunct settlement?
No settlement website, claim form or class notice has been posted publicly as of October 22, 2026, and no settlement administrator has been named in public sources. Class members are identified from the district’s records, and any notice would come from the court-approved administrator.
Has the court approved the Long Beach City College settlement?
An approval hearing was scheduled for July 1, 2026 before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stuart M. Rice. No public source has reported the outcome, and the court file is not available free online, so OpenClassActions.com has not confirmed whether the settlement was approved.
What did the court rule before the settlement?
On February 18, 2025, ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment, the court held that the district’s part-time faculty are not exempt from California’s minimum wage requirements and that the district violated those requirements by not paying for required work outside the classroom. That ruling was later stayed, and the case settled before any final judgment.
Sources
• EdSource — Long Beach Community College District to pay $18M to settle adjunct lawsuit (February 24, 2026), republished by the Long Beach Post• California Public Employment Relations Board filing quoting Roberts v. Long Beach Community College District, No. 22STCV11381, and attaching the court’s February 18, 2025 ruling — PDF (July 29, 2025)
• California Teachers Association — LBCC CHI Part-time Faculty Lawsuit Update (April 9, 2026)
• Inside Higher Ed — Community College District Settles With Adjuncts (February 27, 2026)
