Valnet $2M Content Creator Settlement, Who Qualifies and How Payments Work

Valnet Inc. and Valnet U.S. Inc. have agreed to pay $2 million to resolve a California class and representative action alleging they misclassified content creators as independent contractors instead of employees.

No claim form is required. Valnet’s records are used to identify eligible creators and calculate payments. December 28, 2026 is the deadline to opt out, object or challenge the number of months Valnet says you worked. It is not a claim deadline.

Official settlement website: ContentCreatorSettlement.com

Quick answer:

• Who: content creators who submitted or edited written articles, or produced video or audio content, for any Valnet property between December 21, 2019 and August 3, 2026, while classified as independent contractors and with a California home address on file with Valnet.
• How much: it varies. The $2 million is not split equally. Payments depend on months worked, any earlier release payment from Valnet, and whether you also qualify for a separate PAGA payment.
• Status: preliminarily approved on October 6, 2026. Final approval hearing: February 2, 2027.

The lawsuit was brought by former Valnet content creator Daniel Quintiliano. It alleged unpaid minimum and overtime wages, missed meal and rest breaks, unreimbursed business expenses, inaccurate wage statements and unpaid wages at termination, plus related penalties under California law and the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The case is Quintiliano v. Valnet Inc., et al., No. 23STCP04605, in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

Valnet Content Creator Settlement: Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Gross settlement	$2,000,000
Defendants	Valnet Inc. and Valnet U.S. Inc.
Plaintiff	Daniel Quintiliano
Case number	23STCP04605
Court	Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
Judge	Timothy P. Dillon (Department 15)
Class period	December 21, 2019 to August 3, 2026
PAGA period	January 25, 2023 to August 3, 2026
Who may qualify	Content creators (written, video or audio) for any Valnet property, classified as independent contractors, with a California home address on file
Official settlement website	ContentCreatorSettlement.com
Claim form	Not required (no claim form for this settlement)
Individual payment	Varies by months worked and prior release payments
PAGA payment	Separate calculation for qualifying Aggrieved Employees
Opt-out, objection and work-period challenge deadline	December 28, 2026
Preliminary approval	October 6, 2026
Final approval hearing	February 2, 2027, 10:00 a.m.
Funding schedule	$1 million by about Feb. 16, 2027; $1 million by about July 3, 2027
Administrator	Atticus Administration LLC
Phone / email	1-800-856-0525 / [email protected]
Final approval	Pending

What You Should Do: Simple Checklist

• [ ] Find the personalized notice sent to you (there is no claim form to file).
• [ ] Check the Period of Time Worked shown. If it is too low, gather pay stubs or other records (copies only, not originals).
• [ ] Check whether the notice shows a prior release payment from Valnet.
• [ ] Decide whether to stay in the settlement, opt out or object.
• [ ] If challenging your work period, opting out or objecting, act by December 28, 2026.
• [ ] Confirm your PayPal account or mailing address, and contact the administrator before payments go out if either is wrong.
• [ ] If your combined payment will exceed $2,000, be ready to return a W-9.

Who Qualifies?

You may be a Class Member if all of these apply:

1. You submitted or edited written articles, or produced video or audio content, for any Valnet property.
2. You did that work between December 21, 2019 and August 3, 2026.
3. Valnet classified you as an independent contractor.
4. You provided Valnet with a California home address during that time.

Writers and editors are expressly included, as are video and audio creators. The definition covers any Valnet property, not one named site. The California requirement looks at the address you gave Valnet during the work relationship, not where you live today, so moving away does not automatically disqualify you. Current and former contributors can both qualify.

The Separate PAGA Group

There are two overlapping groups:

• Class Members, who may receive an individual class payment.
• Aggrieved Employees, who may receive an individual PAGA payment.

You can be in both. The PAGA group covers creators who did the same work between January 25, 2023 and August 3, 2026, while classified as independent contractors with a California home address on file. Someone who worked only before January 25, 2023 may qualify for the class payment but not a PAGA payment. Your notice shows whether Valnet’s records place you in the PAGA group.

Can you opt out of PAGA?

No. You can opt out of the class settlement, but an Aggrieved Employee cannot opt out of the PAGA portion. You remain bound by the PAGA settlement and its release, and you can still receive the individual PAGA payment, even if you opt out of the class. The court has not yet approved the PAGA portion. That decision is reserved for the final approval hearing.

How Much Will Each Creator Receive?

There is no single amount. The formula considers months worked in the class period, months worked in the PAGA period (if applicable), any earlier release payment from Valnet, and the deductions approved by the court.

The accessible notice PDFs on the settlement website contain blank placeholders, so they are not a payment calculator. Your estimate is in the personalized notice sent to you.

How the class payment is calculated

Component 1: $600 minus any prior release payment. Each Participating Class Member is allocated $600 less any amount Valnet previously paid them in exchange for releasing class-period claims.

Prior release payment	Component 1
$0	$600
$200	$400
$400	$200
$600	$0
$750	$0

Component 2: a pro-rata share of what remains, based on your Period of Time Worked in the class period. After the first allocations, the administrator divides the remaining Net Settlement Amount in proportion to months worked. If your prior release payment was $600 or more, you get nothing from Component 1 but still share in Component 2.

The $600 is not a guaranteed flat payment. It is one part of the formula.

How PAGA payments are calculated

$12,500 is set aside for individual PAGA payments. The administrator divides it by the total PAGA-period months worked by all Aggrieved Employees and multiplies by each person’s own PAGA months.

How the $2 million is allocated

Allocation	Maximum or proposed amount
Attorneys’ fees	Up to $666,666.66
Litigation expenses	Up to $35,000
Service award to Daniel Quintiliano	Up to $7,500
Settlement administration	Up to $14,100
Total PAGA penalties	Up to $50,000
Net class payments	Remainder

The $50,000 PAGA amount splits into $37,500 (75%) to California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency and $12,500 (25%) to Aggrieved Employees. All fees, expenses, awards and administration costs are subject to court approval, so not all $2 million reaches creators.

Class Counsel are Laura L. Ho, David Borgen, Ginger L. Grimes and Stephanie Tilden of Dardarian Ho Kan & Lee (Oakland, CA), and James E. Goodley and Ryan P. McCarthy of Goodley McCarthy LLC (Philadelphia, PA).

Why Are There Four Notice Versions?

The website posts four accessible notices. They are not four settlements or four benefit choices, just versions of the same notice tailored to Valnet’s records:

Notice	PayPal on file	Prior release
Notice 1	Yes	Yes
Notice 2	No	No
Notice 3	No	Yes
Notice 4	Yes	No

Do not use a generic notice to estimate your payment. Read the one addressed to you.

Do You Need to File a Claim?

No. The administrator uses Valnet’s records to identify Class Members and Aggrieved Employees and calculate their payments. If you do nothing, you remain a Participating Class Member and are eligible for a class payment (and a PAGA payment, if applicable). But you also give up the covered class-period wage claims against Valnet once the settlement becomes final and is funded.

What if Valnet counted fewer months than you worked?

Submit a written challenge to the administrator by December 28, 2026, with copies of supporting records such as pay stubs, other payment records, or records showing when you submitted or edited articles or produced content. Do not send originals; they will not be returned. The administrator will consider your information along with input from Class Counsel and Valnet’s counsel, and its decision on your time worked is final.

How is Period of Time Worked calculated?

It is based on dates in Valnet’s records:

• Written content: the first and last dates you submitted or edited articles.
• Video or audio content: the first and last payment dates for producing that content.

The span between those dates is rounded up to the nearest month. If the records show only one qualifying date, you are treated as having worked one month. Only time while you were classified as an independent contractor with a California home address counts. This can change your payment substantially, so check the number on your notice.

How Will Payments Be Sent?

• PayPal: generally the PayPal account you used to receive payments from Valnet.
• Check: mailed to the address where your notice was sent, if you had no PayPal account with Valnet or the administrator cannot confirm it.

To change your payment method or PayPal account, contact the administrator before payments go out, and update your mailing address if you move. If you qualify for both a class payment and a PAGA payment, they are generally combined into one payment. If you opt out of the class but are an Aggrieved Employee, you can still receive the PAGA payment.

Tax treatment

The settlement proposes treating 100% of individual class and PAGA payments as non-wage penalties, reported on IRS Form 1099. If your combined payments exceed $2,000, you will be asked to complete a W-9, and the administrator must withhold 24% if you do not return it. This is the parties’ proposed treatment, not tax advice, and recipients are responsible for any taxes owed. Consult a qualified tax professional.

Your Options

Option	Result	Deadline
Do nothing	Stay in the class, be eligible for payment, release class-period wage claims	None
Challenge your work period	Ask the administrator to correct your months worked	Dec. 28, 2026
Opt out	No class payment; keep your right to sue individually; PAGA payment and release still apply	Dec. 28, 2026
Object	Tell the court you think the settlement or the requested fees are unfair	Dec. 28, 2026

How to opt out

Send a personally signed written request by December 28, 2026, with your full name, current mailing address, telephone number, the case name (Quintiliano v. Valnet Inc.) and a statement that you do not want to participate in the class settlement, to:

Content Creator Settlement c/o Atticus Administration LLC P.O. Box 64053 Saint Paul, MN 55164

The administrator accepts any personally signed writing that clearly states your decision to be excluded. If you opt out, you receive no class payment and keep your right to pursue covered class-period wage claims, but remember that you cannot opt out of PAGA.

How to object

Participating Class Members who do not opt out may submit a written objection by December 28, 2026. It may challenge the settlement’s fairness or the requested fees, expenses or service award. Include the case name, your full name, current address and telephone number, the approximate dates you worked for Valnet, what you object to, your reasons and supporting facts, and your signature. Send it to the administrator as the notice directs. You may also appear at the final approval hearing in person, by phone or virtually, following the notice’s procedures, but attendance is not required. People who opt out cannot object as Class Members.

Key Dates

Event	Date
Lawsuit filed	December 21, 2023
Case removed to federal court	February 2024
Remanded to Los Angeles Superior Court	August 2024
Preliminary approval	October 6, 2026
Opt-out, objection and work-period challenge deadline	December 28, 2026
Final approval hearing	February 2, 2027, 10:00 a.m. (Dept. 15)
First $1 million installment due	About February 16, 2027
Second $1 million installment due	About July 3, 2027

When will payments arrive?

No payment date is confirmed. Valnet funds the $2 million in two installments, and the administrator distributes payments after the settlement is fully funded, subject to finality and any appeals. Dates may be extended if final approval is delayed, so do not treat February 16, 2027 as a confirmed payday.

Case Status

Daniel Quintiliano filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 21, 2023. Valnet removed the case to federal court in February 2024, and in August 2024 the Central District of California remanded it because the defendants had not established that the amount in controversy exceeded the federal jurisdictional threshold. The parties continued in state court and negotiated the settlement.

On October 6, 2026, Judge Timothy P. Dillon preliminarily approved the class and representative action settlement, conditionally certified the class for settlement purposes and approved notice. The order did not approve the PAGA settlement. That will be decided at final approval. Preliminary approval is not final approval.

Did Valnet Admit Misclassifying Creators?

No. Valnet denies violating employment laws or failing to pay wages and says it complied with applicable law. The settlement compromises disputed claims, and the court has not decided the merits. It does not establish that every Valnet content creator was legally an employee.

Why Does California’s Independent Contractor Law Matter?

California generally uses the ABC test to decide whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Labor Code and wage orders. The hiring business generally must show all three of the following:

1. The worker is free from the company’s control and direction in performing the work.
2. The work is outside the usual course of the company’s business.
3. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature.

There is an important exception. Labor Code § 2778 includes a professional-services exception that covers certain freelance writers, editors, content contributors, producers and narrators. When its requirements are met, the older Borello multifactor test may apply instead of the ABC test. Those requirements include a written contract, specified payment terms, intellectual-property rights, restrictions on replacing employees, work location and freedom to serve other clients.

So California law does not automatically make every writer, editor or online creator an employee. The Valnet settlement does not decide that question for the whole online publishing industry. It resolves the claims of the defined groups.

Beware of Settlement Scams

Use only ContentCreatorSettlement.com and the administrator contact details below. You do not need to pay anyone to receive a payment or to “unlock” one, and the administrator will not ask for your full Social Security number or banking passwords. Be cautious of unsolicited requests for payment or personal information.

Related California Wage and Misclassification Cases on AllAboutLawyer

You may also want to read about the Lyft $272.5 million California driver misclassification settlement, the Menasha Packaging $1.73M wage and hour settlement, and the Ebara Technologies $1.2 million California wage settlement. These involve different employers, work arrangements and formulas, and their rules do not apply to the Valnet settlement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the $2 million Valnet settlement real?

Yes. Valnet Inc. and Valnet U.S. Inc. agreed to a $2 million class and representative action settlement. It has preliminary approval, and final approval is pending.

Who qualifies?

Content creators who submitted or edited written articles or produced video or audio content for any Valnet property between December 21, 2019 and August 3, 2026, while classified as independent contractors and with a California home address on file.

Do I need to file a claim form?

No. The administrator calculates payments from Valnet’s records for eligible Class Members who do not opt out.

What does December 28, 2026 mean?

It is the deadline to opt out, object, or challenge the Period of Time Worked on your notice. It is not a claim deadline.

How much will I receive?

It varies by months worked, prior release payments and the fund remaining after deductions. Qualifying Aggrieved Employees may also receive a PAGA payment.

Is everyone guaranteed $600?

No. $600 is only the first part of the formula, reduced by any prior release payment. The rest of the net fund is shared pro rata by months worked.

What if I got money from Valnet before in exchange for a release?

That amount is deducted from the $600 first component. If it was $600 or more, the first component is $0, but you may still share in the pro-rata distribution.

What is the PAGA payment?

$12,500 is allocated to individual PAGA payments, divided in proportion to months worked between January 25, 2023 and August 3, 2026.

Can I get both class and PAGA payments?

Yes, if you meet both definitions. They are generally combined into one payment.

Can I opt out of PAGA?

No. You can opt out of the class settlement only. The PAGA release applies to all Aggrieved Employees.

What if Valnet undercounted my months?

Submit a written challenge with copies of supporting records by December 28, 2026. Do not send originals.

Will I be paid through PayPal?

Generally yes, to the PayPal account you used with Valnet. Otherwise a check is mailed. Contact the administrator before payments are issued to change either.

When is the final approval hearing?

February 2, 2027, at 10:00 a.m., before Judge Timothy P. Dillon in Department 15 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

When will payments arrive?

No date is confirmed. Payment follows full funding, final approval and the resolution of any appeals.

Does Valnet admit wrongdoing?

No. Valnet denies the allegations, and the settlement is not a finding of liability.

How to Contact the Administrator

The administrator is Atticus Administration LLC.

• Website: ContentCreatorSettlement.com
• Phone: 1-800-856-0525
• Email: [email protected]
• Mail: Content Creator Settlement, c/o Atticus Administration LLC, P.O. Box 64053, Saint Paul, MN 55164

Contact the administrator to challenge a work-period calculation, update your address, request a different payment method or ask about your individualized notice.

Sources

1. Official settlement website: https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/
2. Official FAQ: https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/faqs-2/
3. Settlement documents page: https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/settlement-documents/
4. Class Action and PAGA Settlement Agreement: https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Accessible-Class-Action-and-Paga-Settlement-Agreement.pdf
5. Stipulation to Amend the Settlement Agreement (Sept. 23, 2026): https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Accessible-Stipulation-to-Amend-Class-Action-and-Paga-Settlement-Agreement.pdf
6. Order Granting Preliminary Approval (Oct. 6, 2026): https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Accessible-Order-Granting-Plaintiffs-Motion-for-Preliminary-Approval-of-Class-and-Representative-Action-Settlement.pdf
7. Notice 1 (PayPal, prior release): https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Accessible-Notice-1-With-PayPal-Account-With-Release.pdf
8. Notice 2 (no PayPal, no prior release): https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Accessible-Notice-2-Without-PayPal-Account-Without-Release-1.pdf
9. Notice 3 (no PayPal, prior release): https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Accessible-Notice-3-Without-PayPal-Account-With-Release.pdf
10. Notice 4 (PayPal, no prior release): https://www.contentcreatorsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Accessible-Notice-4-With-PayPal-Account-Without-Release.pdf
11. California Labor Commissioner, independent contractor guidance: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm
12. California Labor Code § 2778: https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-lab/division-3/chapter-2/article-1-5/section-2778/

Verification note: The court’s October 6, 2026 order preliminarily approves the class settlement and conditionally certifies the settlement class. It does not yet approve the PAGA settlement; that issue is reserved for final approval. The notices contain individualized payment placeholders, so no single public payout estimate applies to everyone. The December 28, 2026 deadline is for opt-outs, objections and work-period challenges, not for filing a claim.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, Legal Content Researcher. AllAboutLawyer.com is an independent U.S. consumer legal information website, not a law firm. This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Valnet denies wrongdoing, and the settlement is not a final finding that the company violated California employment laws.