Railroad-car manufacturer FreightCar America Inc. lost a court ruling Monday that's being closely watched for its potential to affect the company's Roanoke work force.

The company, which has shifted work to Roanoke from an idle factory in Pennsylvania, was told a second time by a judge to reinstate Pennsylvania workers who claim they were improperly laid off.

The company disagrees with the workers' claims, saying it shifted work to Roanoke because production costs are lower.

FreightCar has also said if it must reinstate the workers, it might have to reduce its Roanoke work force.

U.S. District Court Judge Kim Gibson is hearing a case concerning allegations that the company improperly furloughed Pennsylvania workers to keep them from earning pensions.

The judge issued a preliminary injunction Jan. 11 in which he ordered FreightCar to reinstate 182 workers furloughed from a plant in Johnstown, Pa.

The company instead appealed.

Gibson, in ruling on the appeal Monday, reiterated that the workers "are to be reinstated at that facility."

FreightCar can consider appealing Monday's legal defeat to a higher court. It was not clear if it would do so. There was no announcement that any workers had been rehired in Pennsylvania or furloughed in Roanoke.

In 2005, Chicago-based FreightCar leased the former Norfolk Southern East End Shops in downtown Roanoke and hired a work force to begin making rail cars.

Kevin Bagby, chief financial officer, has said FreightCar is choosing to conceal the size of its Roanoke work force to avoid tipping competitors about production levels in the industry, which is in a soft period.