June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will use an age-bias lawsuit against Sprint Nextel Corp. to consider limiting the ability of workers to present evidence of discrimination against other employees at trial.

The justices today agreed to hear arguments from Sprint, the nation's third-largest mobile-phone service provider, in its bid to end an age-bias lawsuit by Ellen Mendelsohn, who lost her job as a manager during layoffs in 2002. Sprint wants the court to reinstate a jury verdict in the company's favor.

The court will consider the admissibility of what Sprint calls ``me, too'' evidence -- testimony by other alleged victims of discrimination. In ruling against Sprint, a federal appeals court said five of Mendelsohn's former coworkers should have been allowed to testify in the case.

``For the trial to be fair, district judges must retain the discretion to declare that such proof, whatever its marginal probative value, is unfairly prejudicial,'' Sprint argued in court papers, filed in Washington.

AT&T Inc., Honeywell International Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp. joined Sprint in urging the high court to take up the case, saying the issue is a recurring one in employment-discrimination lawsuits.

In siding with Mendelsohn and ordering a new trial, the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the testimony was relevant because the other workers lost their jobs as part of the same layoff. Like Mendelsohn, all five worked for Sprint in Kansas City, Kansas, though they didn't report to her supervisor.

``The 10th Circuit, like other courts of appeals, addresses on a case-by-case basis the relevance of anecdotal evidence of other discrimination,'' argued Mendelsohn, who was 51 when she was fired.

Sprint is based in Reston, Virginia.

The justices will hear arguments during their 2007-08 term, which starts in October.

The case is Sprint/United Management v. Mendelsohn, 06-1221.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 11, 2007 15:14 EDT