REDMOND – Twelve years after a lawsuit was filed challenging Microsoft Corp.’s treatment of temporary workers, thousands of employees are still waiting to receive their share of a $97 million settlement.
A settlement between Redmond-based Microsoft and the workers was reached in December 2000. But the payouts have been held up amid legal appeals, a question of how the payments should be taxed and complications surrounding who is eligible to receive the money.
Judith Bendich, a lawyer with Bendich, Stobaugh &Strong, which represents the former temporary workers, said it hopes to see the checks mailed this year, although she cautions that it’s tough to predict how long it may take to resolve the various issues.
The settlement stems from a case filed in 1992 which challenged practices such as allowing workers to be classified as temporary for as long as 14 years.
Microsoft has since changed its practices. The company also has placed the settlement money into an escrow account and said it is cooperating with the various parties whenever necessary.
One appeal, over whether $27 million in attorney’s fees was too much, was ended in November 2002 when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
But the temps’ lawyers are still waiting to hear from the Internal Revenue Service over how much should be withheld from the payouts for taxes. The issue is confusing because the settlement was designed to compensate the temps for not being able to participate in a program to let employees buy Microsoft stock at a discount, and it’s unclear how that should be taxed.
The payouts also are being held up amid appeals from workers who were denied payouts or who dispute how much the claims administrator has said they should receive. While those appeals have begun, it’s unclear how long it will take to resolve all of them.
The workers stand to receive anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on when and for how long they worked for the company. Nearly 8,000 former temporary workers have been approved to receive a chunk of the settlement so far.
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