A class action suit has been filed in Delaware bankruptcy court against Skybus Airlines by former employees for violating the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN act), which requires companies to give 60 days' notice of any mass layoffs with limited exceptions. Several phases of layoffs began April 7, 2008 with a majority of the 450 total workers being laid off that day. Of those, 365 employees were based in Columbus, with the remainder in Greensboro.
The lawsuit it seeking 60 days wages and benefits for all the affected workers, claiming they are entitled to them under the WARN act after they were not given 60 days notice prior to the lay offs. A Skybus representative maintains they were within their rights under exceptions to the act in which the company was "actively seeking capital or business that would have enabled the employer to avoid or postpone the shutdown."
