A hardwood producer that had a business footprint throughout West Virginia has been hit with a federal class-action lawsuit contending that it didn’t provide federally required notice of mass layoffs implemented last month.
Allegheny Wood Products Inc. is the defendant in the lawsuit filed Friday by Princeton resident and aggrieved former employee James Beane in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Beane alleges Allegheny Wood Products failed to provide a required notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as WARN.
The law requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice of a plant closing and mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment.
Beane’s lawsuit on behalf of all those he says were similarly affected says he and all other employees were terminated Feb. 23 effective immediately without the WARN notice.
The lawsuit contends Beane and those similarly situated are entitled to 60 days of pay and benefits they say are owed to them for Feb. 23 through Aprril 23, a civil penalty for each violation, and attorney fees. The suit filed by attorney Amanda Taylor of Beckley-based law firm Taylor, Hinkle & Taylor seeks a jury trial.
WorkForce West Virginia Acting Commissioner Scott Adkins told the West Virginia Senate Finance Committee last Saturday the state expects about 900 workers to be impacted by Allegheny Wood Products’ sudden closure.
Adkins said the state didn’t receive a WARN notice from Allegheny Wood Products, whose website has been unavailable since news broke of its closure Feb. 23.
Adkins told lawmakers the state had received word the lack of notification from Allegheny Wood Products was due to a bank seizing company assets.
WorkForce West Virginia has advertised an informational meeting aimed at Allegheny Wood Products Inc. and affiliate Allegheny Wood Products International Inc., as well as contracted workers impacted by the closure, to attend “rapid response informational meetings†Tuesday.
The meetings are to be held at Kingwood Christian Fellowship Church Gymnasium, 18806 Veterans Memorial Highway, Kingwood WV 26537, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Those unable to attend may request a packet be mailed to them by contacting the Dislocated Worker Services Unit at 1-304-558-8414.
Allegheny Wood Products President John Crites II has not responded to requests for comment, including a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Allegheny Wood Products operated sawmills throughout West Virginia and had been based in Grant County.
Last year, Allegheny Wood Products withdrew an air quality permit application for a proposed log fumigation facility in Hardy County heavily opposed by residents there due to environmental health concerns.
Crites lobbied last year for legislation capping how much employees can recover as compensation for noneconomic losses from workplace injuries when their employer acts with “deliberate intent.†That legislation, House Bill 3270, became law despite opposition from advocates of miners and other workers. Crites said the legislation would eliminate false claims that he said drive up insurance and litigation costs.
