A California restaurant chain recently got lucky and avoided a proposed class action filed by former workers who claimed the chain failed to provide proper notice before laying off approximately 3,000 employees. The lawsuit alleged that the Catalina Restaurant Group’s April 2015 restructuring – the chain was sold, restaurants were closed and layoffs occurred at corporate headquarters – left about 3,000 employees out of a job without prior warning. Additionally, the suit claimed that those affected were offered no severance pay and were informed their medical benefits would cease within one week. The plaintiffs claimed these actions violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as the WARN Act, according to which employers are required to provide at least 60 days’ notice to their employees ahead of a mass layoff, which is defined as a 50-person reduction in workforce at a single site and at least 33 percent of total workforce (not counting part -time workers) at the single site of employment. Judge Dean Pregerson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the restaurant chain’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the putative class complaint, stating that the extent of the mass cuts failed to invoke the federal law protection of the WARN Act. The court reasoned that the downsizing took place across 75 individual units as well as at Catalina’s corporate headquarters, and it did not meet the layoff threshold as it did not affected more than 50 employees per location. Furthermore, Judge Pregerson found that the plaintiffs’ argument of combining geographically disparate restaurants to be considered as a “single site of employment” was not persuasive enough to convince the court that the separate units should be grouped together to overcome the 50 workers per location threshold. A lesson for the employers - those who are deemed to have violated the federal law protection of the WARN Act are on the hook for paying each affected worker back pay and benefits for up to 60 days, in addition to attorneys’ fees in legal action. The case is Ronald Ross, et al. v. Catalina Restaurant Group Inc., et al., case number 2:15-cv-02626 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Federal Lawsuit Over Mass Layoffs Not on the Menu for California Restaurant Group
RELATED ARTICLES
COVID-19 Class Action Litigation Heats Up Over Temperature Checks
October 30, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
Motorin’: CAFA Removal Upheld, California Wage and Hour Class Action Dismissed
August 26, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Workplace Culture and Conduct, Employment Lessons
Outbreak of COVID-19 Public Nuisance Cases Continues
August 7, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
Welcome to the Hotel COVID Lockdown – Seafood Employees Allege Failure to Pay and False Imprisonment
July 9, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
Public Nuisance Claims Emerge In COVID-19 Workplace Litigation Filings
June 19, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
COVID-19 Class Action Litigation Heats Up Over Temperature Checks
October 30, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
Motorin’: CAFA Removal Upheld, California Wage and Hour Class Action Dismissed
August 26, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Workplace Culture and Conduct, Employment Lessons
Outbreak of COVID-19 Public Nuisance Cases Continues
August 7, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
Welcome to the Hotel COVID Lockdown – Seafood Employees Allege Failure to Pay and False Imprisonment
July 9, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
Public Nuisance Claims Emerge In COVID-19 Workplace Litigation Filings
June 19, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
COVID-19 Related Workplace Litigation Picks Up Steam
June 12, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employee Health Issues
Illinois Federal Court Rejects Arbitration of BIPA Class Action
June 10, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law
Brain Freeze: California Federal Court Rejects Ice Cream Shop’s CAFA Removal
May 29, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law
Seventh Circuit Confirms Article III Standing for BIPA Plaintiffs
May 7, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law
Shutting the Gate: Temporary Worker Excluded From FLSA Collective Action
April 23, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Fair Labor Standards Act
Third-Party Biometric Timekeeping Provider Chops Down BIPA Liability
April 14, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law
That’s A Wrap: No Workplace Class Action For California Chipotle Workers
January 28, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Employment Discrimination
California Federal Court Leaves Retail Employees Holding the Bag
January 21, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law
Third Circuit Schools District Court on Workplace Class Certification
January 8, 2020 | Currents - Employment Law, Fair Labor Standards Act
Class Arbitrability is a Decision for the Court, Not the Arbitrator
July 24, 2019 | Currents - Employment Law, High Stakes Employment Issues
Get a Room! Rethink Conducting Employee Reviews Over Lunch
August 25, 2017 | Employment Lessons, Currents - Employment Law
Lesson: Don’t Underestimate Court’s Ability to Change Its Mind
April 6, 2017 | Employment Lessons, Fair Labor Standards Act, Currents - Employment Law
Putting the Matter to Rest: California Court Rules Commission-Pay Employees Must Be Compensated Separately for Rest Breaks
April 4, 2017 | Employment Lessons, Currents - Employment Law
Paid Leave American-Style: “I Get Mine, But You Can’t Have Yours!”
March 31, 2017 | Employee Leave, Currents - Employment Law
Drill Deeper Than “Fit” as Reason For Termination
January 26, 2017 | Employment Lessons, Currents - Employment Law
Dancer Employees Allegedly Stripped of Wages Through Misclassification
November 1, 2016 | Fair Labor Standards Act, Currents - Employment Law
Cook County, Illinois, Approves Increased Minimum Wage for Suburban Workers Beginning Next Year
October 28, 2016 | Employment Lessons, Currents - Employment Law
Collective and Class Actions: Interns, Assistant Managers – and their Lawyers!
July 18, 2014 | Fair Labor Standards Act, Letter of the Law, Currents - Employment Law
Top Tech Companies Headed to Trial in Talent Poaching Conspiracy Case
April 10, 2014 | Non-competes and Trade Secrets, Currents - Employment Law
Straying from Past Practice in Investigation Raises Retaliation Risk
July 19, 2013 | Employment Discrimination, Currents - Employment Law
Losing A Fair Labor Standards Act Lawsuit Can Be Costly
November 8, 2012 | Fair Labor Standards Act, Currents - Employment Law
Seventh Circuit Sides With Defendants On Eavesdropping Case
October 18, 2012 | Social Media and Technology, Currents - Employment Law
Congressional Investigation Targets WARN Act Guidance Issued to Defense Contractors
October 16, 2012 | Traditional Labor, Currents - Employment Law
RELATED PRACTICE AREAS
Subscribe
Do you want to receive more valuable insights directly in your inbox? Visit our subscription center and let us know what you're interested in learning more about.
View Subscription Center