Fresno, Calif. (AP) — A Federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for nearly two dozen women who were laid off from a Fresno plant for failing to get a perfect score on an English-only skills test.
The workers had sued NIBCO Inc., an Indiana-based irrigation systems manufacturer, in 1999. A jury ruled for the company in 2008.
But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Judge in the original trial erred in denying a challenge from the attorneys for the women, who said NIBCO's lawyers improperly removed three Hispanic jurors from the panel.
