Is a class action civil or criminal?

Every lawsuit in the United States falls into one of two tracks. Civil cases resolve disputes between private parties, such as a consumer and a company, a worker and an employer, or a patient and a drug maker. Criminal cases are brought by the government to punish conduct that the law defines as a crime.

A class action sits squarely in the civil track. In federal court, it is authorized by Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the rulebook for civil lawsuits. Rule 23(a) lets one or more people sue on behalf of a whole class only if the class is so numerous that joining everyone is impracticable, the claims share common questions, the representatives' claims are typical, and the representatives will fairly and adequately protect the class. State courts have their own versions of the same rule.

The people who file are private plaintiffs. The named plaintiffs, often called the lead plaintiffs, sue for themselves and for everyone in a similar position, and a judge decides at the class certification stage whether the case can go forward on behalf of the group. For the full process, see how a class action lawsuit works.

The two tracks differ in who brings the case, what has to be proven, and what the court can order.

The lower burden of proof matters. A company can be found liable in a civil case on evidence that would not be enough to convict anyone of a crime. That is one reason class actions exist: they give ordinary people a way to hold companies responsible when no prosecutor has acted, or when the harm (a hidden fee, a leaked record, an illegal robocall) is too small for one person to sue over alone.

Under Rule 23(e), a class action can be settled, voluntarily dismissed, or compromised only with the court's approval, which is why every class settlement goes through a fairness hearing before any money is paid.

Civil and criminal cases are not either/or. When a company's conduct breaks a criminal statute and also harms consumers, prosecutors and private plaintiffs often pursue it in parallel, and neither case blocks the other.

Volkswagen. On January 11, 2017, the Justice Department and the EPA announced that Volkswagen AG agreed to plead guilty to three criminal felony counts and pay a $2.8 billion criminal penalty over its scheme to sell about 590,000 diesel vehicles in the U.S. with a defeat device that cheated emissions tests. That was separate from the consumer class action in federal court in California. On October 25, 2016, Judge Charles Breyer granted final approval to the $14.7 billion Volkswagen 2.0-liter diesel settlement, which paid owners and lessees through buybacks, lease terminations, and cash, and a later 3.0-liter settlement was valued at $1.2 billion to $4.04 billion.

Wells Fargo. On February 21, 2020, Wells Fargo agreed to pay a combined $3 billion to resolve Justice Department and SEC investigations into its sales practices, including a three-year deferred prosecution agreement in which it admitted to criminal violations for creating false bank records and identity theft. Consumers pursued their own civil claims separately. See our Wells Fargo lawsuit page for current cases and the Wells Fargo CARES Act settlement for one example of a civil class recovery.

A criminal conviction can help a later civil case, because facts admitted in a guilty plea are hard for a company to deny. But the money flows differently: criminal fines usually go to the government, while class settlement money goes to class members after court-approved fees and costs.

Because it is civil, a class action can win three main kinds of relief:

• Money. Refunds, actual damages, or statutory damages set by a law, such as the $500 per illegal robocall allowed by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
• Changes in conduct. A court order, called injunctive relief, that requires the company to stop a practice, fix a product, or improve its data security.
• A declaration. A ruling that a contract term or practice is unlawful.

What a class action cannot do is send anyone to jail, impose a criminal record, or put executives on probation. Punitive damages are available under some state laws to punish especially bad conduct, but they are still a civil money award, not a criminal sentence.

Under Rule 23(c)(3), the judgment in a class action binds class members whether or not it is favorable to the class, which is the civil-law feature that matters most for you: if you do not opt out, you are bound by the result. See can you be bound by a class action settlement.

If you got a settlement notice or joined a lawsuit, you are on the plaintiff side of a civil case. That means:

• You are not accused of anything. Class members are not defendants, and receiving a notice does not mean you are in legal trouble.
• You usually pay nothing up front. Class counsel are paid from the recovery, with the court approving the fee.
• You rarely have to testify. Most class members never go to court. See will I have to testify in a class action.
• You must be truthful on the claim form. Many settlement claim forms are signed under penalty of perjury, and federal perjury under 18 U.S.C. 1621 carries up to five years in prison, so filing a claim for a product you never bought is the one way a class member can create criminal exposure.

If you think a company broke the law and harmed you, you do not need to wait for a prosecutor. Attorneys may already be investigating. Browse lawsuits you may be able to join or open settlements.

Not directly. A civil judge cannot file criminal charges. But civil litigation can surface evidence, such as internal emails produced in discovery, that prosecutors or regulators later use. The reverse is more common: a government investigation or guilty plea becomes public, and private class actions follow within weeks.

If you have been harmed by conduct that is also under criminal investigation, your civil claim still has its own deadlines. A statute of limitations keeps running during a criminal case, and for many consumer claims it is between one and four years, so waiting for a prosecution to finish can cost you the right to sue. If you think you have a claim, a free case review takes about two minutes.