UPS Lawsuit Updates: 2026 Class Actions and Settlements

UPS is currently navigating four major legal disputes at once. Each targets a different part of the business, from how it bills customers to how it treats seasonal workers, union drivers, and shareholders.

The active cases include:

• A consumer class action over illegal tariff and brokerage fees, filed after the February 2026 Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs
• A wage theft lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James on behalf of seasonal holiday workers
• A breach of contract lawsuit from the Teamsters union over a disputed driver buyout program
• A shareholder securities fraud class action tied to misleading 2024 financial guidance

Some of these cases are early-stage filings still working through motions and discovery. Others, like the Teamsters dispute, have already reached settlement. Understanding where each one stands is the first step to knowing whether you might have a claim.

How These Lawsuits Impact Employees and Consumers

These lawsuits split into two broad groups that affect different people in different ways.

Consumers who shipped or received international packages may have paid inflated fees tied to tariffs that were later ruled unlawful. Seasonal and part-time employees may have lost wages through timekeeping practices that shaved hours off their paychecks. Full-time union drivers face uncertainty around buyout offers and job security. Shareholders who held UPS stock during a specific window in 2024 may have suffered losses tied to allegedly misleading earnings guidance.

Each group has a different path to potential compensation, and eligibility depends entirely on which lawsuit applies to your specific situation.

Why is UPS getting sued?

Summary of the Four Major Legal Disputes in 2025-2026

UPS’s current legal troubles stem from four distinct sources of conflict:

1. Consumer tariff fees. After the Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in February 2026, customers say UPS kept charging (and kept) fees tied to those now invalid tariffs.
2. Seasonal worker wage theft. New York’s Attorney General alleges UPS shortchanged thousands of holiday season workers through manipulated time records.
3. Union contract violations. The Teamsters accused UPS of trying to push out drivers with a buyout program that bypassed the terms of their 2023 labor agreement.
4. Shareholder securities fraud. Investors claim UPS overstated its ability to handle rising volumes of lower profit deliveries in 2024, then saw its stock drop once the truth came out.

Consumer Tariff Fees vs. Labor Law Violations

It helps to think of these disputes in two separate buckets. The consumer facing cases focus on billing practices, specifically whether UPS charged fees it had no legal right to collect once the underlying tariffs were invalidated. The labor facing cases focus on how UPS treats its workforce, including off the clock work, inaccurate timekeeping, and attempts to reshape driver staffing outside the boundaries of an existing union contract. Both types of cases can move forward independently, and a person could theoretically have standing in more than one if they were both a customer and an employee during the relevant periods.

Is there a class action lawsuit against UPS?

Yes. Multiple class action and state led lawsuits against UPS are active right now. The most significant is the 2026 tariff and brokerage fee class action, alongside the New York wage theft case, the Teamsters contract dispute, and the ongoing shareholder litigation.

The 2026 Tariff and Brokerage Fee Class Action

After the Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that certain IEEPA tariffs were unlawful, a proposed class action was filed in Georgia federal court alleging UPS collected tariff related charges from consumers and importers, then failed to reimburse them once the tariffs were struck down. The complaint claims UPS was unjustly enriched by retaining fees derived from a tariff scheme that no longer had legal footing, and that this amounted to a breach of its own shipping contracts.

The proposed class covers a wide group, including:

• Individual consumers who paid import duties, tariff surcharges, or customs fees on international shipments
• Small businesses and importers who used UPS as a carrier and were charged IEEPA related fees
• Freight forwarders and customs brokers who paid tariff charges on behalf of clients
• Anyone billed for brokerage or clearance fees tied directly to the invalidated tariffs

Notably, UPS has not publicly committed to issuing refunds the way its rival FedEx has. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been processing tariff refunds directly to importers of record, but consumers generally cannot claim those refunds themselves. Instead, the money is expected to flow back through the shipping carrier’s brokerage process, which is part of why this litigation matters so much to everyday customers.

New York Attorney General’s Seasonal Worker Wage Theft Lawsuit

Filed in Manhattan Supreme Court in December 2025, this case accuses UPS of running what the Attorney General’s office called a persistent and systematic pattern of wage theft against seasonal holiday workers. The investigation, conducted before the suit was filed, found that UPS allegedly:

• Failed to record all hours actually worked
• Required unpaid off the clock labor, including mandatory training and safety videos
• Auto deducted lunch breaks that workers say they never took
• Edited timesheets after the fact to avoid paying overtime
• Left workers unpaid while waiting at assigned meet up points for job assignments

The lawsuit alleges violations of New York Labor Law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act across more than 50 facilities statewide. The state is seeking back pay, damages, civil penalties, and a court order requiring UPS to overhaul its timekeeping and payroll practices going forward. UPS has denied intentionally underpaying employees.

Teamsters Union Breach of Contract Lawsuit (Driver Buyouts)

In February 2026, the Teamsters union sued UPS in federal court in Massachusetts, seeking an emergency order to block a new driver buyout program called the Driver Choice Program. The union argued this program, which offered roughly 105,000 eligible full-time drivers a flat $150,000 lump sum to resign, violated at least six provisions of the 2023 National Master Agreement, including rules around job creation, seniority rights, and direct bargaining with union representatives.

A judge denied the union’s request for an injunction in late February 2026, allowing UPS to move forward with the offers while the underlying contract dispute proceeded. After UPS later admitted the program violated the contract in parts of the country and pulled it from several states, the two sides reached a settlement in April 2026. Under that agreement:

• The buyout program is capped at 7,500 drivers nationwide
• Seniority governs who is approved
• UPS agreed not to introduce additional severance programs before the contract expires in 2028

A separate arbitration over the earlier 2025 buyout program, known as the Driver Voluntary Separation Program, is still ongoing.

Shareholder Securities Fraud Class Action

This lawsuit accuses UPS and certain executives of making overly optimistic statements about the company’s expected revenue and operating margin for fiscal year 2024, while allegedly concealing that the company was not equipped to absorb a surge in lower profit shipping volume without hurting its margins. Shareholders say the truth came out when UPS reported disappointing second quarter 2024 results, causing its stock price to fall sharply. The case seeks damages for investors who purchased UPS stock during the affected window in early to mid 2024.

Has anyone sued UPS and won?

Yes, UPS has a history of losing or settling major cases, which gives context for how the current lawsuits might play out.

The $4.9 Million EEOC Religious Discrimination Settlement

One of the most notable past outcomes was a 2018 consent decree in which UPS agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle a class action filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The case alleged that UPS’s grooming policy, which barred male employees in supervisory or customer facing roles from having beards or long hair, discriminated against workers whose religious practices required them. UPS did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to change its accommodation process and provide company wide training.

Historical Wage and Hour Settlements Involving UPS

Beyond the EEOC case, UPS has faced and resolved numerous wage and hour disputes over the years involving unpaid overtime, misclassified employees, and off the clock work claims. These settlements typically required back pay to affected workers along with changes to internal timekeeping and compliance procedures, a pattern that closely mirrors the allegations in the current New York Attorney General lawsuit.

What Past Payouts Mean for Current Plaintiffs

UPS’s history of settling rather than litigating wage and labor disputes to the end suggests the company often prefers negotiated resolutions once liability becomes difficult to dispute. That pattern is already visible in the 2026 Teamsters buyout settlement, which was reached within months of the lawsuit being filed. It does not guarantee an outcome in the pending tariff or wage theft cases, but it does show UPS has a track record of resolving major labor claims through settlement rather than prolonged trial.

Is UPS really paying $49 an hour?

Partially. The $49 an hour figure refers to the average top rate for full-time UPS package car drivers under the 2023-2028 Teamsters National Master Agreement, not a starting wage or a guarantee for every employee.

The Truth Behind the 2023 Teamsters Contract

When UPS and the Teamsters reached their current five year labor agreement in 2023, the union announced that full-time delivery drivers would see their average top pay rate rise to $49 an hour by the end of the contract. All union employees also received an immediate raise of $2.75 an hour in 2023, building toward a total increase of $7.50 an hour over the life of the agreement.

Top Rate vs. Starting Pay for UPS Drivers

The $49 figure applies to experienced, full-time drivers who have progressed through the seniority pay scale, not new hires. Under the same contract:

• Part-time workers received a wage floor of at least $21 an hour, up from a $15.50 starting wage
• New part-time hires start at $21 an hour and can advance to $23 an hour
• Part-time seniority employees became eligible for longevity increases of up to $1.50 an hour on top of standard raises

In short, $49 an hour reflects the ceiling for veteran full-time drivers rather than a typical or entry-level wage.

How Recent Job Cuts and Buyouts Affect Driver Pay

UPS has cut tens of thousands of positions since 2025, citing declining package volume, including reduced Amazon business. The company has said it expects to reduce headcount by roughly 30,000 positions in 2026 alone, on top of about 48,000 cut the prior year. The buyout programs at the center of the Teamsters lawsuit are part of this broader restructuring, and the shrinking driver workforce means fewer people are reaching the seniority levels where the $49 top rate applies.

Do You Qualify for Compensation in a UPS Lawsuit?

Eligibility for Customers Charged Illegal Tariffs

You may have a potential claim in the tariff and brokerage fee litigation if you:

• Paid UPS import duties, tariff surcharges, or customs fees on a package shipped internationally between early 2025 and February 20, 2026
• Ran a small business or import operation that used UPS and was charged IEEPA-related fees
• Worked as a freight forwarder or customs broker who paid UPS tariff charges on a client’s behalf
• Were billed a brokerage or clearance fee tied directly to those now-invalidated tariffs

Eligibility for New York Seasonal Holiday Workers

If you worked as a seasonal or temporary UPS employee in New York State during a recent holiday peak season and believe you were shorted on hours, overtime, or breaks, you may be part of the group the Attorney General’s lawsuit is seeking recovery for. This includes package handlers and helpers who reported unpaid waiting time, unpaid training, or edited timesheets.

How to Join an Active Class Action

If a class action reaches certification and settlement, most eligible individuals are notified automatically through mail, email, or a public claims website, and often do not need to take action to remain part of the class. In the meantime, it is worth taking a few practical steps:

1. Save all relevant documentation, including invoices, pay stubs, timekeeping records, or shipping receipts.
2. Watch for official settlement notices tied to the specific case that applies to you.
3. Consult a consumer protection or employment attorney if your losses are significant or your situation is unusual.

What to Expect Next: Projected Timelines and Settlements

When Will the Tariff Class Action Settle?

The tariff and brokerage fee case is still in its early stages, with the complaint filed in February 2026 and class certification not yet decided. Cases of this size and complexity, especially ones involving multiple carriers and pending government refunds from Customs and Border Protection, often take a year or more to reach a settlement, so a resolution before 2027 is far from guaranteed.

Next Steps in the NY Attorney General Case

The wage theft lawsuit is proceeding through New York state court, where UPS will have the opportunity to respond to the allegations and the case will move through discovery. Given the size of the claimed damages and UPS’s history of settling similar labor disputes, a negotiated resolution is a realistic possibility, though the state has indicated it is prepared to pursue the case through trial if necessary.

Contacting a Class Action Attorney

If you believe you were affected by any of these lawsuits, whether as a consumer, seasonal worker, or shareholder, speaking with an attorney who handles class actions in that specific area can help clarify your options, especially if your losses fall outside what a future class settlement might cover.

Frequently asked questions

Is UPS currently being sued?

Yes, UPS is facing several active lawsuits in 2026, including consumer, labor, and shareholder cases described above.

Can I get money back from UPS for tariff charges?

Possibly, if you paid tariff related fees through UPS between 2025 and February 2026, but no settlement or refund program has been finalized yet.

Did the Teamsters lawsuit against UPS get resolved?

Yes, UPS and the Teamsters reached a settlement in April 2026 that capped the disputed buyout program at 7,500 drivers.

Is the New York wage theft lawsuit a class action?

It is a state-led enforcement lawsuit brought by the Attorney General rather than a private class action, though it seeks recovery for a large group of workers.

Do all UPS drivers make $49 an hour?

No, that figure is the average top pay rate for senior full-time drivers, not the starting wage.

How do I know if I qualify for a UPS settlement?

Eligibility depends on the specific lawsuit; check official case notices or consult an attorney based on whether you were a customer, seasonal worker, or shareholder during the relevant period.

Conclusion

UPS enters the back half of 2026 dealing with legal pressure from nearly every direction, customers questioning its billing practices, regulators scrutinizing its labor practices, its own union challenging its restructuring plans, and shareholders questioning its past guidance. Some of these disputes, like the Teamsters buyout case, have already reached settlement, while others, like the tariff class action and the New York wage theft lawsuit, are still working through the courts. If you believe you were affected as a customer, worker, or investor, the most useful steps right now are keeping your records, watching for official settlement notices, and talking to a qualified attorney about your specific situation.