Pratt & Whitney says judge wrongly considered company’s intent, not actions, in jobs shift

Pratt & Whitney faults judge’s ruling on jobs move

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney says a federal court judge wrongly emphasized what company executives may have thought rather than what they did in deciding to shift 1,000 jobs out of Connecticut.

The East Hartford-based subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. says in a recent appeal that U.S. District Judge Janet Hall erroneously interpreted the contract with the Machinists union “to require Pratt’s management employees to think good thoughts.”

Hall ruled in favor of the Machinists in February, agreeing with the union’s lawsuit that the company did not make every reasonable effort to avoid shutting two engine repair plants in Connecticut.

Pratt & Whitney says Hall wrongly concluded that the contract requires it to preserve work rather than try to keep work in Connecticut.