Employees File WARN ACT lawsuit against The Kane Company

Three former employees of the Kane Company filed a lawsuit today claiming that the company violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act because Kane failed to give sixty (60) days notice to employees of its planned shutdown.  Jamar Cotman, Brian Hill, and Stephen Renshaw — who worked for Kane a combined thirty-five (35) years — allege in their Complaint that on December 7, upper management met with groups of employees and advised them that Kane was going to close and lay everybody off.  No written notices were given to the employees at those meetings as required by the WARN Act and the majority of employees were laid off two days later on December 9.

Charles Ercole of Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP in Philadelphia is the lead attorney representing the employees.  Mr. Ercole said "This appears to be a blatant violation of the WARN Act.  Our investigation has revealed no reason why sixty (60) days notice should not have been given or any legal justification for shortening the notification period."

The adversary complaint seeks class action status to represent nearly 1,000 employees who were laid off.  Kane would be liable for sixty (60) days pay for all employees, as well as the value of any fringe benefits such as healthcare coverage or pension contributions, Mr. Ercole said.  The adversary complaint was filed in the main case (The Kane Company — case 16-26665) in federal bankruptcy court in Baltimore, Maryland at docket entry no. 47.  If you have any questions, Mr. Ercole can be contacted at cercole@klehr.com or 215.569.4282.