While it was no doubt a shock for 40,000 ITT Technical Institute students to learn they no longer had a place to pursue their education, 8,000 employees of the company also lost their jobs. Now some of those laid-off workers have sued for-profit operator ITT Educational Services for failing to give them adequate notice their jobs would be eliminated.
A former teacher at three California ITT campuses and an office analyst at the company’s Indiana headquarters filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Delaware on Tuesday, shortly after the company announced it would close its doors, The Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the suit, ITT Educational Services failed to provide employees with a 60-day notice of termination of employment.
The nearly two-month long notice period is required under the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act, or WARN Act, for companies making mass layoffs or plant closings.
The law affects employers with more than 100 employees and plant locations (or business sites) with more than 50 workers.
Because of the law’s size restriction, campuses with fewer than 50 employees may not be covered, Jack Raisner, the lawyer representing the case, tells the WSJ.
In addition to alleging the failure to follow the WARN Act, the lawsuit claims ITT violated California labor laws, which also require 60 days notice during mass layoffs.
The suit claims that in some cases, employees were notified Friday that they would have an extra-long holiday weekend, and not to report to work on Tuesday.
“People were blowing money all weekend, not knowing they were fired,” Raisner said Wednesday. “That’s ruffled some feathers.”
ITT Employees Sue Over Sudden Mass Layoff [The Wall Street Journal]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist