A Manhattan federal judge has ruled that Tokyo-based Nikko Asset Management Co. will have to face civil breach-of-contract claims from 14 former senior executives and employees who accused the company of improperly extinguishing stock acquisition rights worth millions of dollars.

The March 30 decision, from U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York, rejected what plaintiff attorneys called a years-long effort by Japan's largest asset manager to avoid jurisdiction in U.S. courts, and cleared the way for a jury trial in the nearly five-year-old lawsuit.