Wichita ? Dozens of former Boeing Co. employees filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the aerospace giant and the buyers of its commercial aircraft operations in Kansas and Oklahoma, alleging age discrimination against employees in the sale.

The 75 named plaintiffs in the case are seeking class-action status, and as many as 300 former workers have agreed to be part of the suit, attorney Lawrence Williamson Jr. said.

In addition to Boeing, the other named defendants are the Canadian firm Onex Corp. and its Wichita-based subsidiary, Spirit Aerosystems Inc.

“We believe age was a motivating factor in decisions made,” Williamson said.

Boeing spokesman Tim Neale said the company had not received a copy of the complaint and declined immediate comment. Spirit Aerosystems spokesman Fred Solis also said the company had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment. Its parent company, Onex, did not return a call for comment.

The workers are seeking their jobs back, along with unspecified compensatory damages and at least $1.5 billion in punitive damages.

After the sale, more-qualified older workers were terminated while younger workers were hired by the new company, Williamson said.

Of 930 workers older than age 50, nearly 14 percent – or 130 – were not offered jobs. That compares to only 10 of the 215 workers under age 40, or 4 percent, who were not offered jobs, according to the complaint.

“That disparity is unexplainable,” Williamson said.

Among those not offered a position was router operator Willard Ratchford, 48. He worked at Boeing for more than 19 years before he lost his job on June 16 with the sale. “I really did think I would get a job,” he said. “I was surprised.”

He now is going to technical school to retrain as an aircraft mechanic, and hopes to complete his certification in 2007. But his medical insurance benefits run out next month, and he cannot afford the $1,470 it will cost monthly to keep them.

The complaint filed in federal court in Wichita also alleges the company retaliated by not hiring some women who had complained about discrimination and employees who had filed workers compensation or disability claims.

It also charges the companies did not keep required personnel records, and that some workers were terminated just months or weeks before they would have been vested in their pensions.