Technicolor Creative Services USA is facing a proposed class action lawsuit in California federal court, alleging that the company illegally terminated over 200 employees without the legally required advance notice.
According to the 15-page complaint, plaintiff Jane Doe, a former employee at Technicolor’s Culver City facility, claims the company violated both federal and California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Acts when it abruptly fired 217 employees on February 24 without the required 60-day warning.
Doe asserts the layoffs were the direct result of a planned facility closure or mass layoff, a move she says Technicolor knew was inevitable but failed to disclose.
Allegations of WARN Act Violations Stack Up
Under both the federal WARN Act and California’s state equivalent, companies must notify affected employees, as well as government agencies, before conducting large-scale layoffs.
According to Doe, Technicolor failed to notify the California Employment Development Department or any local government officials before executing the mass termination.
“Upon information and belief, nor did defendant give any prior written notice,” Doe stated in the lawsuit. “Rather, defendant waited until after the layoffs to begin to attempt to do so.”
