Microsoft Women Suing Over Bias Are Denied Class-Action Status

Microsoft Corp. women engineers who claim discrimination in pay and promotions won’t be allowed to pursue their lawsuit as a class action, in a major blow to the leading case attacking the male-dominated tech industry.

U.S. District Judge James L. Robart issued a sealed order June 25 denying class certification, without elaborating. The Seattle judge said the ruling won’t be made be public until both sides tell him what needs to be redacted, or kept private.

The denial deals a near-death blow to the lawsuit filed by three women on behalf of a proposed class of more than 8,630 high-level ...