Paramount Global has been sued by a former employee for violating New York’s WARN act during layoffs that occurred in September, which stripped more than 300 staffers from their jobs in less than a week, despite workers being entitled to a 90-day notice, TheWrap has learned.
The class action suit, which was filed in New York’s Southern District Court on Wednesday and included CBS Interactive, accuses the company of failing to give employees a 90-day written notice that is required by the state’s act Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification act (WARN) for the mass layoffs, which Paramount issued on or surrounding the date of Sept. 24.
The Department of Labor’s WARN went into effect in June 2023, and it requires covered businesses to provide employees with an early warning of closures or layoffs. With that stated, the lawsuit seeks “relief sought herein on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated.”
“On or about September 24, 2024, defendants Paramount Global (‘Paramount’) CBS Interactive Inc. terminated the employment of Julian Hagins more than 300 other employees who worked at and/or reported to their headquarters in close geographic proximity to headquarters,” the suit reads. “Defendants provided written notification of the termination, which was effective on or about Sept. 30, 2024.”
It continued: “New York WARN states that if an employee provides any employee with less than 90 days advanced notification of a plant shutdown or mass layoff, the employer shall provide that employee with 60 calendar days of wages and benefits.”
In the suit, Hagins described himself as a former full-time employee of Paramount who worked remotely in his Orange County home and virtually clocked in for work at Paramount’s Manhattan-based headquarters. The document noted that Hagins’ supervisors — Jeremy Westphal, Andy Sarnow and Steve Raizes — reported to work in person, but would give remote and/or non-remote staffers assignments and manage them. The suit claims that within 30 days of Sept. 24, approximately 294 workers were let go from their jobs with the effective termination date being “on or about Sept. 30, 2024.”
In conclusion, the class action complaint seeks the following: certification of the action as a class action pursuant, notice to the putative Class Members pursuant, designation of the Plaintiff as Class Representative on behalf of the Class and the appointment of undersigned attorneys as the plaintiffs’ counsel. In addition, the suit calls for a judgement in favor of the plaintiff and Class Members in “an amount equal to the sum of their underpaid wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday pay, accrued vacation pay, pension, 401(k) and healthcare contributions” as well as other benefits for a period of 60 calendar days” which would have been covered and paid under their previous benefit plans.
TheWrap previously reported on Paramount’s sweeping layoffs, which were announced last month, and resulted in a 15% staff reduction.
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