A former employee of PPG Industries has won a $1 million arbitration judgment after alleging her job was terminated due to age and gender discrimination.

The award, which was issued in late August after a five-day trial this summer, cannot be appealed by PPG Industries, said attorney Bruce C. Fox, who represented former employee Kathleen Moyer of Hampton.

PPG Industries issued a statement saying it disagrees with the findings of the arbitrator "and does not believe that any discrimination occurred. ... PPG respects the dignity, rights and contributions of its employees, and continuously strives to provide a discrimination-free workplace for all of our employees."

Ms. Moyer started working at PPG Industries in 1968 as an engineer, and received various promotions, awards and recognition in the field of windshield glass distortion during 36 years of employment with the company, according to a summary of the final award by arbitrator Donald E. Ziegler. The reason put forward by PPG industries for her termination in 2004 was a merely a pretext for age and gender related discrimination, Ms. Moyer claimed.

PPG Industries denied that it violated any laws. The company determined in 2004 that "business necessities" required that some employees lose their jobs, Mr. Ziegler wrote in his summary, and underwent a stand ardized process when deciding which jobs to eliminate.

"We find the evidence preponderates that Kathleen Moyer was discriminated against by PPG," wrote Mr. Ziegler, a former U.S. District Judge for Western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Fox said statistical evidence presented during the arbitration hearing showed that employees of Ms. Moyer's age -- 57 at the time -- were four times more likely to be terminated in reductions-in-force than younger employees. The statistical analysis also showed that employees over 60 were more than five times more likely to be terminated, added Mr. Fox.

"Based upon statistical evidence that we developed during the Moyer case, it has become readily apparent that older workers have been systematically terminated simply to reduce PPG's unfunded pension liabilities," Mr. Fox said in a released statement. The lawyer said he was preparing a class-action suit against PPG Industries.