DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A former Emory Healthcare staffer filed a class-action lawsuit stating employees were not given the required notice before they were laid off.
The lawsuit was filed by Paulette Simmons and seeks damages and injunctive relief under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988. Her lawsuit claims Emory didn’t give a required 60 days advance written notice.
Channel 2 Action News reported last week that Emory Healthcare reduced its workforce in its financial services and revenue cycle department.
The Aug. 12 layoffs affected less than 1% of their workforce, an Emory representative said.
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The WARN Act requires companies provide 60 days’ notice of termination or layoffs impacting between 50 and 100 employees, though there are several factors at play.
In the Emory case, Simmons’ lawsuit says 543 employees were terminated.
A spokesperson for Emory Healthcare says only 232 employees were affected.
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Channel 2 Action News has not yet received specific details about the number of employees, and a WARN notice is not in the state database as of the time of writing.
The U.S. Department of Labor states that not all cases require notice, per the WARN Act. Exceptions include faltering companies, unforeseen business circumstances and natural disasters.
Simmons’ lawsuit says Emory instead “presented employees with severance agreements, including for employees age 40 and over, which attempted to condition receipt of severance pay upon a waiver of statutory rights, including WARN Act rights.”
The lawsuit goes further to say the offer of severance was both “inadequate and noncompliant” with federal law since the offer did not provide employees with payment equal to 60 days’ work and benefits.
Simmons’ is seeking back pay and benefits for each day of alleged WARN Act noncompliance up to 60 days, in addition to prejudgment interest and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
Emory Healthcare shared a statement with Channel 2 Action News that read:
In an effort to streamline operations and realign our structure with future strategic plans, Emory Healthcare has made the difficult decision to reduce its workforce in its financial services/revenue cycle department, effective Tuesday, Aug. 12. This reduction affected 232 people out of Emory Healthcare’s overall workforce of 29,500 employees.
Due to the limited number of affected employees, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act—a U.S. labor law requiring employers to provide employees with 60 days of written, advance notice of plant closings and mass layoffs—was not implicated. A mass layoff occurs if the employment losses at a single site of employment represents at least 33% of the total active workforce, excluding any part-time employees. Neither of these options came into play at Emory Healthcare.
We remain committed to supporting the individuals who are leaving us with needed resources throughout this career transition. We express our sincere gratitude for the hard work and contributions these employees have brought to our team.
— Emory Healthcare spokesperson
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