Johnson v. Buckley

356 F.3d 1067 Nedra JOHNSON; Deborah Nelson; Michael Friend; Carol Larsen, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. James BUCKLEY; Charles Carroll; Burt Chase; Ed De Garbolewski; John Sininger; Holly Williams, Defendants, and W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Restated Assoc. Stock Ownership Plan, Defendant-Appellee. No. 02-17094. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted December 3, 2003. Filed January 28, 2004. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Susan Martin, Martin & Bonnett, P.L.L.C., Phoenix, AZ, for the plaintiffs-appellants. Charles F. Knapp, Faegre & Benson LLP, Minneapolis, MN, for the defendant-appellee. Paul W. Heiring, Faegre & Benson LLP, Minneapolis, MN, for the defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Mary H. Murguia, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-99-01699-MHM. Before: SCHROEDER, Chief Judge, D.W. NELSON, and RYMER, Circuit Judges. D.W. NELSON, Senior Circuit Judge: 1 When W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., (Gore) closed its Phoenix, Arizona, electronic parts plant in 1998, many of its employees lost their jobs before they qualified for an additional year of vesting and benefit accrual credit…