Published
August 20, 2026
This settlement resolves claims that Drata Inc., the compliance-automation software company, classified its Sales Development Representatives as exempt from overtime and underpaid them as a result. There is no claim form to file: if you worked as a Drata SDR in California you are paid unless you opt out, but if you worked as one anywhere else in the country you only take part by cashing the check when it arrives — and an uncashed check goes back to Drata.
Current Status
There is no claim form and no claim deadline. The settlement administrator already has every eligible Sales Development Representative on its list from Drata's payroll records, and a payment goes out after the settlement takes effect. The case-documents page on the official settlement website posts an agreed order granting the plaintiffs' unopposed motion for approval of the settlement, and notice has gone out to both groups; the site still frames payment conditionally, telling members that eligible people will be sent a payment if the court approves the settlement. No fairness hearing date has been published, no judgment has been entered, and no payment date has been announced. The one thing that genuinely matters right now is which group you are in: California SDRs are paid unless they opt out, while SDRs who worked anywhere else are paid only if they cash the check or elect electronic payment.
Status
Pending — Automatic Payment
Approval order posted on the settlement website · notice mailed · no judgment entered and no payment date announced
Key Deadline
On your notice
Opt-out and objection close 60 days after notice was mailed, so the date printed on your own notice governs · there is no claim deadline
Estimated Payout
Pro rata share of $1.3M
Scaled to what you earned as an SDR, with California weeks weighted 1.3× · your own estimate is printed on your notice
Proof Required
Automatic Payment
No claim form — payments come from Drata's payroll records · but outside California you must cash the check or elect electronic payment to be paid
What Changed Recently?
The settlement became real and the notice program began. The parties signed the settlement agreement in February 2026, the plaintiffs filed the complaint and an unopposed motion for approval in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Nassau County, and the settlement website went live with an electronic-payment portal and a case-documents page carrying the settlement agreement and the agreed approval order. That is what is new here — this page covers a settlement that has just reached its notice stage, not a later development in one.The dispute is older than the filing by more than a year and a half. On June 11, 2024, counsel for a group of former Drata employees sent the company a letter asserting that it had misclassified Sales Development Representatives as exempt from overtime, in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and analogous California law, and invited it to negotiate. The parties agreed to talk and to toll the limitations period on the claims that same day. After exchanging data and documents they mediated for a full day on May 6, 2025 with wage and hour mediator Michael Loeb, accepted a mediator's proposal, and signed a term sheet on May 9, 2025. The complaint was filed only afterward, as part of the settlement — a structure that is common in negotiated wage cases and explains why there is no litigation record to read.
Drata denies all of it. The agreement states that the company contends it has always acted properly and lawfully, denies any wrongdoing or violation of law, denies that the SDRs are entitled to any wages, damages, penalties or fees, and says it was prepared to litigate and settled only to avoid the expense and business disruption of doing so. The class notice adds that the company maintains it complies with applicable laws in good faith and disputes that these allegations belong in a class or collective action at all outside of settlement. No court has made any judgment or determination on the allegations, and the agreement is expressly not an admission of liability.
What Is This Settlement About?
Drata sells compliance-automation software, and like most business software companies it staffs the top of its sales funnel with Sales Development Representatives — the people who prospect, qualify leads and book meetings for closers. The plaintiffs allege the company treated that role as salaried and exempt from overtime, so SDRs who worked more than 40 hours in a week were not paid an overtime premium for the extra time.The claims split along state lines. Nationally, the case is pleaded as a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act for unpaid overtime and misclassification. In California, the plaintiffs added a longer list drawn from state law: failure to provide compliant meal and rest periods or premium pay in their place, failure to pay wages on time during employment and at separation, failure to provide compliant wage statements or keep accurate wage records, failure to pay all wages owed, and failure to reimburse necessary business expenses. Two of the named plaintiffs also served a notice on California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency and pleaded civil penalties under the state's Private Attorneys General Act.
The job title is defined unusually broadly, which matters for anyone wondering whether they count. The agreement lists more than two dozen variants — Sales Development Representative 1 and 2, the Commercial, Emerging, Emerging Market, Enterprise, Inbound and Mid-Market flavors of each, Senior Sales Development Representative in all the same segments, plus Sales Development Lead, SDR Team Lead and Team Lead Sales Development – Inbound. If your Drata title contained "Sales Development Representative" in any form and you were classified as exempt, you are almost certainly covered.
This is not the first settlement of its kind for the role. OCA covered the Dynatrace SDR overtime settlement, which resolved materially the same theory against another enterprise software company; that one has closed, but it is a useful comparison for how these cases are structured.
Who Qualifies?
There are three overlapping groups, all drawn from Drata's own records. Nobody signs up for any of them.- Class Members — SDRs employed by Drata in California between May 1, 2021 and September 1, 2025. This is an opt-out class: you are in it and paid unless you affirmatively exclude yourself.
- Putative Collective Members — SDRs employed by Drata anywhere else in the United States between June 11, 2021 and September 1, 2025. This is an opt-in collective under federal law: you are paid only if you cash the check or elect electronic payment.
- PAGA Members — SDRs employed by Drata in California between June 11, 2023 and September 1, 2025. This group overlaps the California class and receives a separate, smaller penalty payment on top.
Notice the different start dates. The California class period reaches back to May 1, 2021, the federal collective period to June 11, 2021, and the PAGA period only to June 11, 2023 — those are the different limitations periods the underlying laws provide, and they are why the same person can be in two of these groups but with different windows attached to each.
How Much Can You Get?
Your own estimate is printed on the notice Drata's administrator mailed and emailed you. What the agreement fixes is the fund and the formula, and both are worth understanding because the formula is not the usual per-workweek split.Drata is paying a Gross Settlement Amount of $1,300,000. It is all-inclusive apart from the employer's share of payroll taxes, which Drata funds separately on top. Subject to court approval, the deductions from it are attorneys' fees of up to one-third of the fund ($433,333.33) plus reimbursement of out-of-pocket litigation costs, service awards of up to $7,500 to each of the nine named plaintiffs ($67,500 combined), the $22,600 PAGA Fund, and settlement administration costs. If the court awarded the fees, service awards and PAGA fund exactly as requested, roughly $776,567 would remain as the Net Fund before litigation costs and administration expenses come out — that is arithmetic from the agreement rather than a figure the settlement publishes, and the court can award less, in which case the difference stays in the fund for the SDRs.
The Net Fund is then divided by compensation, not by hours. For each person the administrator adds up all compensation earned in an SDR role during their relevant period, including salary, bonus and commission, then multiplies that total by 1.3 for a California class member and by 1 for everyone else. Each person's weighted figure is divided by the sum of everyone's to produce their share of the Net Fund. The practical effect is that a high-earning rep receives more than a low-earning one who worked the same number of weeks, and a California rep receives about 30 percent more per dollar earned than an out-of-state rep who earned the same amount. The class notice gives the reason for that weighting plainly: California law makes more claims available than federal overtime law alone.
For a sense of scale, the agreement estimates 4,781 Eligible Workweeks across all three groups. Spread the roughly $776,567 illustrated above across that estimate and the average works out near $162 for every week of SDR work — call it about $5,000 for someone with roughly 31 weeks of tenure and about $8,400 for a full year. Treat that as an order of magnitude and nothing more: it ignores the litigation costs and administration expenses that also come out, the compensation weighting moves individual results substantially in both directions, and the number on your notice is the one that counts.
The fund can grow. If the actual number of Eligible Workweeks lands more than five percent above the 4,781 estimate, the Gross Settlement Amount rises by the number of percentage points above five percent by which the real count exceeds the estimate — so a count seven percent high would raise the fund by two percent. The administrator calculates that within a week of receiving the class list.
The PAGA money is separate and small by design. The $22,600 PAGA Fund is split the way California law requires: 65 percent ($14,690) to the state's Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the remaining 35 percent ($7,910) divided among PAGA Members by the number of pay periods each worked in the PAGA window. That share is paid on top of any class payment and comes in the same check.
One term explains why a check will be smaller than the estimate on your notice: payments are issued net of applicable withholdings, and the agreement splits each one between a wage portion and a non-wage portion — one third and two thirds respectively for California class members, an even half and half for collective members, and entirely non-wage for the PAGA payment.
What Proof or Claim Form Is Required?
None. The agreement states in a single line that Participating Class Members, Putative Collective Members and PAGA Members are not required to submit a claim or consent form before the administrator mails their checks. There are no receipts, no timesheets, no hours to reconstruct and no documentation of anything. Eligibility, work dates and compensation all come from Drata's payroll records, and the administrator calculates every payment from them.The Notice ID and PIN printed on your notice are not a gate on payment. They exist only to log into the settlement portal, where you can confirm or update your mailing address and choose to be paid electronically instead of by check. Someone who never touches that portal is still paid — by mail, to their last known address.
The one number worth checking is your work dates. The notice shows the dates Drata's records credit you with as an SDR and the eligible weeks that produced, alongside the estimated payment. If you think the records are wrong, the agreement puts the burden on you: Drata's records are presumed correct unless you prove otherwise with documentary evidence, submitted in writing to the settlement administrator, which makes the final decision on any dispute.
Why Out-of-State SDRs Have to Act
This is the part of the settlement most likely to cost someone money, and it comes down to a difference between two bodies of law rather than anything Drata or the administrator decided.California claims are settled through a class action, which binds everyone who does not opt out. Federal overtime claims are settled through a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which nobody joins without affirmatively opting in. So the same settlement pays a California rep for doing nothing and pays a Texas or New York rep nothing for doing the same thing.
For a Putative Collective Member there are exactly two ways in: elect electronic payment on the settlement portal before the Final Effective Date, or endorse and cash the mailed check within the 150-day Check Cashing Period. Either step opts you in, and either step releases your federal and state wage claims against Drata for your time as an exempt-classified SDR — the release language is printed on the back of the check and repeated in the electronic election.
The consequences of letting it lapse also differ by group, and not in a small way. An uncashed check belonging to a California class member or a PAGA member reverts to the California unclaimed property fund in that person's own name, where it can still be recovered later. An uncashed check belonging to a collective member is returned and paid back to Drata. Same settlement, same envelope, opposite destination.
The administrator is required to chase people about this. The agreement commits it to reminders by mail, email and text message at 45, 90 and 120 days after checks go out to anyone who has not cashed one, to trace and re-mail undeliverable checks up to twice, and to report uncashed checks to both sides at the 120-day mark.
What Are the Deadlines?
- Opt-out and objection — the Bar Date, which the agreement sets at 60 days from the initial mailing of the notice. Because it is calculated from the mailing rather than fixed in the agreement, the date printed on your own notice is the one to work from. Someone whose notice was re-mailed gets the later of that 60 days or 30 days from the re-mailing.
- Electronic payment election — open until the Final Effective Date, so there is more room here than on the opt-out. Doing it early is still the safer choice, since the Final Effective Date is not a published calendar date.
- Check Cashing Period — 150 days from the day the administrator sends the checks. For a collective member this is the deadline that decides whether they are paid at all.
- Claim deadline — there is none. Nothing has to be filed.
Opting out is only available to California class members, and it is the only route that preserves the right to sue Drata separately on these wage claims at your own expense. It costs you the settlement payment. An opt-out statement has to be mailed to the administrator, signed, and include your name, address, telephone number and a statement that you are excluding yourself; the agreement gives the wording. Mass or group opt-outs are not allowed — each has to be individual.
Objecting is the opposite choice: you stay in, you still get paid, and you tell the court what you dislike. An objection must be mailed to the administrator by the Bar Date and must carry your name, address and telephone number, every reason for the objection with any supporting documents, and your own signature — an attorney's signature alone is not enough. Reasons left out of the written objection will not be considered later. A collective member has no standing to object, because they are not in the class in the first place. Whether anyone gets to speak at a hearing is entirely up to the court.
How Do You Take Action?
For a California SDR the answer is: confirm your address and then do nothing. Payment depends on a check reaching your last known mailing address, and sales staff move jobs and cities often, so a stale address is the most common way to lose money in a settlement that otherwise asks nothing of you.For an SDR who worked outside California, watch for the envelope. Go to the official settlement website, Drata Settlement, enter the Notice ID and PIN from your notice, verify your record, update your address if it has changed, and elect electronic payment — which both gets you paid faster and opts you into the settlement without waiting on the mail. If you would rather take the check, cash it inside the 150-day window.
Either way, check the work dates on your notice against what you remember, and keep a copy of whatever you submit. The full settlement agreement and the agreed approval order are posted on the case-documents page of the settlement website.
One caution worth repeating on any settlement that pays automatically: no legitimate settlement administrator charges a fee to release a payment or asks for a banking password. Treat the notice you were mailed as the source of truth rather than following a link that arrives out of the blue.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the Bar Date on your notice. After it passes, the plaintiffs file any objections with the court, and whether the court holds a fairness hearing at all is discretionary — the agreement contemplates one only if there are objectors, and even then leaves it to the court to decide whether to schedule it and whether to let an objector speak.Payment then follows a defined sequence rather than an announced date. If nobody objects, the plaintiffs enter a notice of entry of judgment 30 days after the Bar Date expires, and the Final Effective Date lands 30 days plus two business days after that. If there are objectors, it is 30 days after the court's final approval, with or without a hearing. If anyone appeals, the clock does not start until the appeal is exhausted. Drata funds the settlement seven business days after the Final Effective Date, and the administrator issues electronic payments and mails checks 14 days after that.
Because the Final Effective Date depends on whether anyone objects or appeals, no calendar date for payments exists yet, and none has been announced. We will update this page when the court rules or a payment schedule is published.
Sources and Verification
- Settlement Agreement and Release in Topping, et al. v. Drata Inc., executed February 2026, together with its Exhibit A-1 class notice, Exhibit A-2 collective notice, Exhibit A-3 notice email, Exhibit B reminder notices and Exhibit C PAGA check enclosure letter.
- Agreed Order Granting Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Approval of Settlement, posted on the case-documents page of the official settlement website.
- Official settlement website — Drata Settlement, including its electronic payment election and case-documents pages.
- Topping, et al. v. Drata Inc., Index No. 606167/2026, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Nassau.
OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news site and is not the settlement administrator or a law firm.
Questions
Do I have to file a claim form to get paid by the Drata settlement?
No. The settlement agreement states that Participating Class Members, Putative Collective Members and PAGA Members are not required to submit a claim or consent form before the administrator mails their settlement checks. Eligibility and payment amounts are calculated from Drata's own payroll records. What you do with the check afterward is what differs by state: a California class member is paid whether or not they act, while an SDR who worked outside California only takes part by cashing the check or electing electronic payment.
I was a Drata SDR outside California. What happens if I never cash the check?
You get nothing and you release nothing. Outside California the settlement runs as an opt-in collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, so a Putative Collective Member joins only by electing electronic payment before the Final Effective Date or by endorsing and cashing the settlement check within the 150-day Check Cashing Period. The agreement also says that any collective member check left uncashed is returned and paid back to Drata, which is the opposite of what happens to a California check.
What happens to a California settlement check that is never cashed?
It goes to the California unclaimed property fund under the class member's own name, rather than back to Drata. That means the money can still be recovered from the state later. It is a meaningfully better outcome than the collective side of this settlement, where an uncashed check reverts to the company, but it is still worth cashing the check on time.
Why are California SDRs paid more per dollar earned?
The allocation formula weights them higher on purpose. The administrator adds up each person's total compensation, including salary, bonus and commission, earned as an SDR during their relevant period, then multiplies a California class member's figure by 1.3 and everyone else's by 1. The class notice explains the reason: employees who worked in California have more claims available to them under California law than federal overtime law alone provides, including meal and rest period, wage statement and expense reimbursement claims.
When will Drata settlement checks be mailed?
No date has been announced. Payment runs on a sequence rather than a calendar: the settlement reaches its Final Effective Date, Drata funds the settlement seven business days later, and the administrator issues payments fourteen days after that. The Final Effective Date itself depends on whether anyone objects, whether the court holds a fairness hearing, and whether anyone appeals, so no firm mailing date exists yet.
Settlement Agreement and Notices
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Amount
$1,300,000
All-inclusive apart from the employer's share of payroll taxes, which Drata funds separately · includes a $22,600 PAGA Fund · escalates if eligible workweeks exceed the 4,781 estimate by more than 5%
Case Title
Topping, et al. v. Drata Inc.
Case Number
Index No. 606167/2026
Court
Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Nassau
Final Approval Hearing
Not scheduled
A fairness hearing is at the court's discretion after the Bar Date and only if objections are filed
Class Counsel
Outten & Golden LLP and Werman Salas P.C.
Administrator
Apex Class Action
Official Website
Drata Settlement
