Microsoft has reached a $14.4 million (€13.35 million) settlement to resolve allegations that the software company discriminated against employees based on their leave.

If approved by a court, the settlement would resolve a multi-year investigation by the US state of California's Civil Rights Department, Caspian Energy Media reports with reference to “euronews”.

The California department alleged that workers who used protected leave faced retaliation such as lower bonuses and unfavourable performance reviews.