Under that reasoning, companies around the country may have misclassified millions of workers, experts say. Margaret Levi, director of the University of Washington's center for labor studies, believes the national impact will be major. This case will make all temporary employees wonder if they're getting all the benefits they deserve, and will make employers look over their shoulders, too. A class of 10,000 or more people who worked at Microsoft but were denied participation in the employee stock purchase plan. Total damages may reach tens of millions of dollars.
Individual figures depend primarily on length of employment.
Plaintiffs' lawyers said complete resolution might take months or years. The Associated Press contributed to this report.