Scale AI settlement: the opt-out decision

The deadline to request exclusion was Sep 3, 2026 and has passed. This page stays up as a record of what the notice said. A class member who received the notice and did not exclude themselves is generally bound by the class release it describes. That is the usual outcome, not an automatic one: notice is what makes a class judgment binding on absent members in the first place, so if the notice never reached you, or you missed the date for a reason a court can excuse, it may still be worth asking. If your work falls outside the periods the notice covers, a separate claim of your own may also be possible. What the opt-out decision means in any California settlement, including what a missed deadline does and does not close, is covered in our guide to opting out of a class action settlement.

Do nothing and stay in

The notice says the administrator mails a single check to every participating class member and PAGA worker, with no claim form to file. In exchange you release the class claims the notice describes, which ends your ability to sue over them later.

Exclude yourself and keep your own claim

The notice says workers who exclude themselves get no individual class payment and are not bound by the class release. You trade a payment that is already funded for the right to pursue your own case, valued on your own records rather than a class formula. Whether that is the better move depends entirely on your facts, and no one can promise you an outcome either way.

Object, or dispute your credited weeks

Objecting is not the same as opting out. It keeps you in the class while telling the court what you think is wrong with the deal. Disputing the workweek or pay period count on your notice is separate again, and it runs on the same date.

What you cannot opt out of

The PAGA portion. The notice states you cannot opt out of it, that workers who exclude themselves from the class settlement but who meet the PAGA worker definition stay eligible for an individual PAGA payment, and that the PAGA claims are released either way. The PAGA period runs October 29, 2023 through February 28, 2026, which is narrower than the class period.

• The court-approved class notice states that Defendants will pay $12,500,000 as the Gross Settlement Amount, and that the San Francisco Superior Court preliminarily approved the settlement in McKinney, et al. v. Scale AI, Inc., et al., Case No. CGC-24-620481.
• The notice defines the Class Period as December 10, 2020 through February 28, 2026, and the PAGA Period as October 29, 2023 through February 28, 2026. A worker can fall inside one period and outside the other.
• The notice defines the class as individuals who provided services as a Contributor while residing in California, or who were placed by HireArt to perform similar services with Scale AI or Smart Ecosystem. It states that Contributors include roles such as Generative AI Annotators, Prompt Engineers, and Subject Matter Experts, and that residing in California can be shown by a California address on an account on the defendants' platforms, including Outlier or Remotasks.
• The notice states that the actions accuse Defendants of misclassifying the workers and of failing to pay overtime and minimum wages, failing to pay wages due on termination, failing to reimburse expenses, failing to provide meal periods and rest breaks, failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements, and failing to comply with California paid sick leave law.
• Defendants strongly deny violating any laws and deny that Contributors are not independent contractors, according to the notice. No court has decided those questions, and the court has not granted final approval.
• The deadline to request exclusion, to object, or to dispute the workweeks and pay periods credited to you is September 3, 2026, according to the notice.
• The notice states that a Request for Exclusion must be in writing, must state your full name, must say that you are requesting exclusion, must be signed by you, and must reach the Administrator on or before September 3, 2026. It also states that if someone else makes the request for you, it will not be valid.
• The notice states that workers who exclude themselves will not receive an Individual Class Payment and will not be bound by the release of the Released Class Claims.
• The notice states that you cannot opt out of the PAGA portion. Workers who exclude themselves from the class settlement but who fall within the PAGA Worker definition remain eligible for an Individual PAGA Payment and still give up their Released PAGA Claims.
• The notice states that up to $4,166,666.67, one third of the gross amount, is requested for Class Counsel fees, subject to court approval. The Final Approval Hearing is set for October 30, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 304 of the San Francisco Superior Court.

The class is defined by the court-approved notice, not by this page. It reaches people who did contributor work for Scale AI or Smart Ecosystem while living in California between December 10, 2020 and February 28, 2026, including workers placed through HireArt and workers who took the work through the Outlier or Remotasks platforms, in roles the notice describes as Generative AI Annotators, Prompt Engineers, Subject Matter Experts, Contributors, or similar. If you got a notice with a workweek count on it, that count is what your class payment is calculated from, and the same September 3, 2026 deadline applies to disputing it.

Is the Law Offices of Justin Silverman involved in the Scale AI settlement?

No. Those cases were brought by other attorneys and the settlement is handled by a court-appointed administrator. We are not counsel in the case and we are not the people who process exclusions or payments. This page reports what the court-approved notice says so you can decide what to do before the deadline, and you are free to talk to any firm you choose or to no one at all.

What happens if I do nothing?

You stay in the class. The notice says the Administrator mails a single check to every Participating Class Member and PAGA Worker, so there is no claim form to file. In exchange you release the Released Class Claims described in the notice. California courts read a class release broadly, and a worker who stays in can be barred later not only from the claims the case actually pleaded but from related claims that could have been raised on the same facts. For many workers a certain payment now is still the sensible outcome. It is worth knowing it is a real release rather than a formality.

What does opting out actually get me?

It keeps your individual class claims alive. The notice says workers who exclude themselves receive no Individual Class Payment and are not bound by the class release. That is the entire trade. You give up a payment that is already funded in order to keep the right to pursue your own case, where your own hours, rates, and records set the value instead of a class formula.

Can Justin file the opt-out for me?

No. The notice is explicit that the request has to be signed by you and that if someone else makes the request for you, it will not be valid. It also has to reach the Administrator by September 3, 2026, not merely be postmarked by someone on your behalf. Send it yourself through the official settlement website. What a lawyer can do is help you decide whether to send it, read it over before you do, and be ready for what comes after — neither Rule 23 nor the California rule bars a worker from getting that help, and nothing about talking to a lawyer makes your request invalid. What makes it valid is your signature and your submission, by the date the notice sets.

Would an individual claim be worth more than the class payment?

That depends on facts no web page can assess, including how many weeks you worked, what you were actually paid, what your agreement says, and what records still exist. Some workers have individual exposure well above a formula share of a class fund and some do not. Nobody can promise you an outcome either way. The point of a review before September 3 is to compare the two while you still have the choice.

Does an arbitration agreement change this?

It can, and this is worth checking before you give up your place in the class. Contractor agreements often contain an arbitration clause, sometimes with a class action waiver, and whether one applies to you affects where an individual claim would be heard and how it would proceed. Bring whatever you signed when you started the work so it can be read first.

What about the PAGA money if I opt out?

The notice says you cannot opt out of the PAGA portion at all. If you fall within the PAGA Worker definition, which the notice ties to October 29, 2023 through February 28, 2026, you remain eligible for an Individual PAGA Payment even if you exclude yourself from the class settlement, and you release the Released PAGA Claims either way. So excluding yourself does not put the PAGA penalties back on the table.

How long would I have to bring my own claim?

Longer than you might assume, and this cuts in the worker's favor. Under the rule from American Pipe and Crown, Cork and Seal, filing a class action suspends the clock on the individual claims of everyone in the putative class, and for you it keeps running only once you leave the class or certification is denied. Work from early in the class period that looks time barred on a plain three year count may still be reachable because of that suspension. Most statutory wage claims reach back three years and a related unfair competition claim can reach four, measured from when the clock actually started again. How that math lands on your dates is exactly the kind of thing to check before September 3 rather than after.

Can I wait and decide at the October hearing instead?

No. The exclusion deadline is September 3, 2026 and the final approval hearing on October 30, 2026 is a different thing. Courts have held that due process requires only one opt-out opportunity, and a class member who had proper notice and simply did not act is generally not given a late one. You can attend or object at the hearing while staying in the class, but the decision to leave has to be made by the earlier date. There is also a further consequence to simply waiting. The California Supreme Court held in Hernandez v. Restoration Hardware that a class member who got the notice, did not opt out, and did not formally intervene in the case was not a party of record and had no right to appeal the judgment or the fee award. Staying in is a decision, not a way to keep your options open.

What if the September 3 deadline has already passed?

It depends heavily on why, and it is worth asking rather than assuming the answer is no. A class member who received proper notice and simply did not act is generally bound, and California courts have said so plainly. But the deadline is set by the court, not by statute, and courts keep several ways to give relief. A worker who never actually received the notice is generally not bound by the judgment at all, because notice is what makes a class judgment binding on absent members in the first place. Where a notice was defective, or where someone sent a competing one-sided communication during the opt-out window, courts have restored the affected members to the class and given them a fresh period to decide. And Code of Civil Procedure section 473 lets a court relieve someone from an order taken against them through mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, if the request is made within a reasonable time and in no event more than six months. Federal courts weigh similar factors, including when notice actually arrived, what caused the delay, how fast the person moved once they knew, and whether letting them out now would disturb the settlement. None of that is automatic and no one can promise it works in your case. It does mean a missed deadline is worth a conversation, and that the six-month outer limit is a reason to have it soon.

Scale AI or the staffing agency asked me to sign something about this. Should I?

Read it carefully and it is reasonable to get advice before you sign anything. California courts have been notably strict about employers gathering opt-out or waiver forms from their own workers in wage cases. Federal courts in California have thrown out opt-out forms collected in required one-on-one meetings with managers during work hours where workers were not given copies or a translation, and have done the same where non-management staff circulated the forms, on the reasoning that the imbalance between an employer and its workers is itself the problem. Courts have also held that once a court has approved a class notice, no party gets to send its own competing, argumentative version urging people to opt out. The court-approved notice and the official settlement website are the authoritative sources for what this settlement does. Anything else you receive about it is worth a second look.

• Court-approved Notice of Class Action Settlement (McKinney v. Scale AI, Case No. CGC-24-620481) (opens in a new tab) (Jul 25, 2026)
• Official settlement website, administered by Simpluris (opens in a new tab) (Aug 10, 2026)
• Official settlement website, important dates (opens in a new tab) (Aug 10, 2026)
• Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.766 (class notice and exclusion procedure) (opens in a new tab) (Aug 11, 2026)
• Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 473(b) (relief for mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; six-month limit) (opens in a new tab) (Aug 11, 2026)