JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- Freightcar America's former employees have been fighting to get pension benefits they said are owed to them.

The company is in the process of closing the Johnstown plant, taking close to 400 jobs with it, but a judge ruled on Friday that officials with Freightcar America deliberately left the area to avoid paying pensions to hundreds of their former employees.

The ruling orders the company pay benefits for those who were close to their pension requirements before the layoffs and the closing of the plant.

The employees who were just shy of the required pension time will be put back on the employment roster, but the judge did not order the company to reopen the plant.

Freightcar America appealed Friday's ruling, but did not immediately return phone calls for comment.