Microsoft May Seek Reopening of ‘Permatemps’ Case

Microsoft Corp. may ask a federal court judge to reopen the class certification for thousands of Microsoft “permatemps” workers in a dispute over pay, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has twice denied the software giant’s petition to review the case.

In a status report Microsoft submitted Tuesday to U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle, company attorneys say they may ask the judge to reconsider the class status of Vizcaino vs. Microsoft, which was originally certified as a class action in 1993.

In early January, the Supreme Court upheld a federal appellate court’s ruling that full-time employees Microsoft paid through temporary employment agencies--known as permatemps--should have been allowed to buy discounted Microsoft stock.

Attorneys representing Microsoft’s temporary work force say the company is now delaying rather than complying with the federal ruling that requires it to pay millions of dollars to thousands of employees denied the right to buy discounted company shares through the company’s employee stock purchase plan.

The ruling could cost Microsoft at least $20 million because roughly 10,000 permatemps could be eligible for the discounted stock program.

“Microsoft’s response to losing in the U.S. Supreme Court is to ask the District Court to throw out the class certification and start all over with this litigation,” said plaintiff attorney Stephen Strong.

Microsoft says it is not seeking to relitigate or delay the case.

In earlier appeals, Microsoft has argued that the court had allowed too large a pool of former workers to be considered for compensation.