Wichita ? A federal judge has tossed out the remaining age discrimination claims in a long-running lawsuit against the Boeing Co. and Spirit AeroSystems.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren said in a ruling handed down Wednesday that he was dismissing the claims of the remaining 26 plaintiffs as a sanction for their refusal to obey a court order to give their tax returns to the companies.

The ruling deals a major blow to litigation that has already spanned nine years. When the courts rejected the collective action claims, 87 former workers filed individual age discrimination complaints. The lawsuit was eventually whittled down to 26 plaintiffs as some settled out of court or simply dropped out of the lawsuit.

The companies say they would issue a statement later. The plaintiffs plan to appeal.