SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has allowed a potential class of artists and engineers to proceed with claims that California's top animation studios conspired to drive down their wages.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh previously had dismissed claims against studios including DreamWorks Animation SKG, Pixar, The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm for falling outside the four-year statute of limitations that governs federal and state antitrust law. But on Thursday Koh was satisfied by the argument in plaintiffs' second amended complaint that employees couldn't have sued sooner because the studios covered up the alleged conspiracy.

“Plaintiffs have pled specific facts showing that certain defendants took affirmative steps to conceal the existence of plaintiffs' claims,” Koh wrote in a 55-page order denying defendants' joint motion to dismiss. “Moreover, the court finds that plaintiffs have adequately alleged that plaintiffs did not have actual or constructive knowledge of their claims, and that plaintiffs acted diligently once plaintiffs discovered their claims.”