More than 1,000 former employees of Florida based Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., the 12th largest home-mortgage lender, have filed a federal class action against the company less than a week after being laid off.
The lawsuit alleges that Taylor Bean failed to provide a minimum of 60 days notice in advance of the mass layoffs, as stipulated by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
The WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) requires covered employers to provide employees with 60 days advance written notice that will be losing their jobs in a mass layoff or shutdown. Taylor Bean allegedly does not appear to have provided such notice.
Employees were reportedly notified of the layoffs only on August 5th, the same day the company closed for business. At least 946 positions were eliminated at the Ocala, Florida main office and one of its facilities, and a further 130 employees were let go at Taylor Bean's Cincinnati office, according to reports.
The lawsuit seeks to recover 60 days' worth of wages and benefits on behalf of those newly unemployed workers, as well as attorneys' fees.
