The settlement granted U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton against IBM involves a labor dispute in which worker had been misclassified so that they would not be paid overtime. A quote by Stanford Law Professor Alison D. Morantz is included.

Alison D. Morantz, a professor at Stanford Law School, had not reviewed the case, but she said that such a large settlement will probably create a stir.

"Other companies are going to be looking to this probably saying, 'Wait a second, are we going to be on the hook for misclassified employees?" Morantz said.

"It's notoriously tricky issue to regulate," she said of employee classification procedures. "It's a tough issue that's always been politically controversial."