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Law360 (September 10, 2020, 3:58 PM EDT) -- Fanatics Inc. was hit Wednesday with a proposed class suit claiming the online sports apparel retailer failed to give notice required under the WARN Act before laying off hundreds of employees who were already furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a suit filed in the Middle District of Florida, longtime Fanatics worker Olga Calero said the company gave her and other laid-off employees just four days' warning before terminating them on Aug. 28, in violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
The law requires that even in the event of an "unforeseeable business circumstance" like the coronavirus pandemic, the company is still required to "give as much notice as is practicable," according to the suit.
In the case of Fanatics, the company likely knew near the end of March or in early April that a mass layoff was probably necessary, according to Calero, who says she was furloughed along with dozens of other employees beginning on March 20.
But Calero says that she and the other furloughed workers subsequently received emails and phone calls indicating that they would be brought back to work. It wasn't until Aug. 24 that they learned they would be terminated effective Aug. 28, according to the suit.
Calero says between 100 and 200 people were laid off at the Riverview, Florida, facility where she worked as a shipping clerk.
"Defendants' decision to terminate plaintiff was devastating to her as she had worked at Fanatics for over two decades," Calero said. "And, while she understood that the ongoing pandemic was causing problems for the company, she both expected and was entitled to sufficient advance written notice as to her termination."
She is seeking to represent a nationwide class of similarly situated ex-Fanatics employees and is asking for 60 days' worth of wages and benefits, as well as damages for any medical expenses incurred by the proposed class members that would have been covered by their insurance plans.
A Fanatics representative told Law360 that the "complaint is without merit."
"We strongly believe our actions are fully consistent with all applicable laws," the company said.
Calero is represented by Brandon J. Hill and Luis A. Cabassa of Wenzel Fenton Cabassa PA.
Counsel information for Fanatics was not immediately available.
The case is Calero et al. v. Fanatics Inc. et al., case number 8:20-cv-02114, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
--Editing by Daniel King.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
