A person’s job can be one of the most important features of their identity. When two people meet for the first time, for example, one of the first questions asked is very often “What do you do?” One’s job serves other purposes, such as the obvious purpose of providing income to support oneself and one’s family. Finding a job is important, but losing a job can be devastating. New Jersey labor laws protect workers in many aspects of the employer/employee relationship, including limiting the ability of some employers to fire numerous employees all at once. Laws like the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988 apply to large employers that are planning a mass layoff of employees. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled on a claim brought under the WARN Act involving a company that had been sold as part of a bankruptcy case. In re AE Liquidation, Inc., No. 16-2203, slip op. (3rd Cir., Apr. 4, 2017).The WARN Act applies to businesses with at least 100 full-time employees. 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(1). Covered employers must provide advance notice to employees prior to a “mass layoff.” The statute defines a “mass layoff” as the termination of a large number of employees within a 30-day period that is not related to a plant closing. For the WARN Act to apply, the layoff must affect either (1) at least 50 full-time workers, who constitute at least one-third of the total full-time workforce; or (2) at least 500 full-time employees. Id. at § 2101(a)(3).
An employer must provide at least 60 days’ notice to “affected employees” before undertaking a plant closing or mass layoff. Id. at § 2102(a). Aggrieved employees may recover damages for violations that include up to 60 days of back pay. Id. at § 2104. New Jersey has a similar law that requires additional disclosures from employers and allows claims for compensatory damages. N.J. Rev. Stat. §§ 34:21-3, 34:21-6.
The plaintiffs in AE Liquidation were employees of an aviation company that declared bankruptcy in November 2008. The employer planned a sale of the business as a going concern, providing “almost daily assurances that the funding was imminent and the company could be saved.” AE Liquidation, slip op. at 4. The sale fell through due to lack of funding, and the plaintiffs were laid off in February 2009. The plaintiffs filed suit under the WARN Act.