Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (NYSE: TCS.NS) agreed to pay $29.75 million to settle a class action lawsuit that involves as many as 12,600 current and former employees who were brought to the U.S. to work as IT consultants, according to court records. A federal judge in Northern California approved the settlement in April.

Plaintiffs in the class action claimed Tata required them to sign over the U.S. tax refund checks back to Tata, according to court records.

The settlement ends the lawsuit which first began on Feb. 14, 2006.

Workers impacted by the settlement include those who worked for Tata from Feb. 14, 2002, through June 30, 2005, and who were sent to the U.S. after Jan. 1, 2002.

In a comment to Thomson Reuters, a Tata spokesman said the company believes it acted appropriately and agreed to the settlement to end the ongoing costs and distraction of legal proceedings.