Vizcaino

Once more we must address an issue arising out of the protracted litigation between Microsoft Corporation and its freelance workers, this time to decide whether the district court abused its discretion in the amount of attorneys’ fees it awarded to class counsel.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Beginning in 1987, Microsoft supplemented its workforce with workers known as “freelancers,” who agreed in writing that they would not be eligible for Microsoft employee benefits, including the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) and the Savings Plus Plan (“SPP”). In 1992, eight former freelancers brought this action challenging Microsoft’s refusal to provide them with benefits under these plans. The district court certified a class and dismissed the action. After a panel of this court reversed the dismissal of both the ESPP and SPP claims, 1 the full court voted to rehear the case en banc. The en banc court also reversed the district court’s dismissal of the ESPP claim, but held that plaintiffs had not exhausted their administrative remedies for the SPP claim, and remanded that claim to the plan administrator for adjudication in the first instance. Vizcaino v. Microsoft…