Discover Call Center Settlement: Eligibility, $15M Split, Payouts

The Discover call center settlement is a $15 million class action resolution covering roughly 25,000 hourly call center employees who worked for Discover Products, Inc. or Discover Financial Services between January 9, 2021, and May 31, 2025. The suit alleged Discover did not pay workers for the time they spent booting up computers and logging into work applications before and after their shifts. A final approval hearing is set for June 25, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago.¹

Who Is Covered

The class includes hourly call center workers employed by Discover between January 9, 2021, and May 31, 2025. The case, Keyona Harris, et al. v. Discover Products Inc., and Discover Financial Services (Case No. 1:23-cv-05071-FUV), is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois before Judge Franklin U. Valderrama.²³

The plaintiffs alleged that Discover required them to start their computers, log into multiple applications, and prepare their workstations before their paid shifts began, and to log out after. They claimed this off-the-clock time violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Illinois Minimum Wage Act, the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act, and they also raised breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims.⁴ Discover denied the allegations, said it acted in good faith, and agreed to the settlement as a compromise rather than an admission of liability.¹

How the $15 Million Is Divided

Discover is paying $15 million into a gross fund, plus employer-side payroll taxes. Before class members are paid, the fund covers up to $5 million in attorneys’ fees (one-third of the fund) and up to $30,000 in litigation costs, service awards of $10,000 to Keyona Harris and $7,500 each to Janee Qualls, Pamala Jackson, and Randall Misner (plus $3,500 to opt-in plaintiff Danielle Carr), and up to $131,900 in administration costs.⁴

The remainder, called the net settlement amount, is split into two pools:

85% goes to the FLSA Payment Pool, which pays only those who affirmatively opted in.
15% goes to the Rule 23 Payment Pool, which pays every eligible class member who did not exclude themselves.¹

Individual Payment Calculation

Each pool is divided by the total workweeks of all eligible members to produce a per-workweek dollar figure, and each person’s share equals that figure multiplied by their own workweeks during the class period.⁴

In the Rule 23 pool, workers employed in Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, or Pennsylvania receive a 1.2x multiplier on their workweeks. Any calculated payment under $10 is raised to a $10 minimum. Payments are reported half as wages on a W-2 and half as liquidated damages on a 1099.¹

What Class Members Had to Do

The Rule 23 payment is automatic. Any class member who received a notice and did not file an exclusion request is on the list to receive a check.

The FLSA payment, which comes from the much larger 85% pool, required a signed opt-in form. Class members had to submit that form online or by mail postmarked no later than May 7, 2026. Missing that deadline means forfeiting the FLSA share entirely, even for people who otherwise qualify.¹

The same May 7, 2026 deadline applied to written exclusion requests and to objections. Class members who excluded themselves gave up any settlement payment but kept the right to sue Discover on their own. Anyone objecting had to include their name, the last four digits of their Social Security number or employee ID, the case name and number, the basis for the objection, and a list of any other class action objections filed in the past five years.⁵¹

Corrections to workweek counts or contact information on the Settlement Class Member Information Sheet were due to the administrator by April 22, 2026.⁴

When Payments Go Out

FLSA payments to workers who opted in were scheduled to begin on or around June 16, 2026.⁶ Rule 23 payments are expected to be mailed roughly 44 days after the court grants final approval, assuming no appeals follow the June 25, 2026 hearing.¹

Checks are valid for 180 days. Any funds from uncashed checks revert to Discover, so class members should deposit their check promptly and make sure the administrator has a current address.⁴

Contacting the Settlement Administrator

Atticus Administration, LLC is handling distribution and disputes over workweek counts. Class members with questions about their payment, address changes, or check reissues can reach the administrator at:

Phone: (800) 815-1767
Email: HarrisDiscoverSettlement@atticusadmin.com
Mail: Harris v. Discover Products, c/o Atticus Administration LLC, PO Box 64053, St. Paul, MN 55164
Website: www.HarrisDiscoverSettlement.com⁴

1
Harris Discover Settlement. FAQs
2
Law360. Call Center Worker Says Discover Compels Off Clock Work
3
PACER Monitor. Harris v. Discover Products Inc.
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Harris Discover Settlement. Official Settlement Notice
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Harris Discover Settlement. Harris v. Discover Products Settlement
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Claim Depot. Harris Discover Settlement