WASHINGTON — Former Spirit Airlines employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against the airline, alleging the shuttered company did not give them proper notice before a mass layoff.
Read more Oklahoma sues Roblox, AG claims online game ‘exploited minors’
In a complaint filed on May 12, a group of six employees claimed that the airline owes them wages and benefits for 60 days after it failed to provide proper written notice as required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act of 1988.
The ultralow-cost airline that once operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes and employed about 17,000 people abruptly shut down on May 2. Spirit had recently emerged from two bankruptcies but said high oil prices made it impossible to stay afloat.
According to the lawsuit, Spirit employees were notified on May 2 of the closure in an email from CEO David Davis, saying the airline had “decided to cease operations immediately.” The lawsuit said employees were “shocked” when they received the announcement as Spirit had “advised its employees that it planned on continuing operations and that they should ignore the rumors that Spirit was near a termination point.”
Additionally, the group of employees said in the filing that the email announcement promised workers would be paid for hours worked through May 2, but employees have reportedly not received their final paychecks, vacation time or unused sick time.
One of the attorneys representing the employees, Eric Lechtzin, said the lawsuit seeks compensation for benefits, including continuation of medical coverage, retirement contributions and more. He said that many are navigating the job market while also figuring out healthcare coverage.
Read more Emails show FBI Director Kash Patel’s Hawaii trip included ‘VIP snorkel’ at USS Arizona
“They tell me that they have chronic medical conditions or family members with medical conditions, and they don’t know what they’re going to do for medical coverage,” Lechtzin told NBC News. “They’re scrambling for a lifeline, like unemployment, but that only covers a fraction of what they earned in their job, so it’s a hardship to say the least.”
The lawsuit also highlights a last-minute attempt from Spirit Airlines to seek $10.7 million in retention bonuses for senior executives and non-management employees during the wind-down operations.
In WARN notices filed in Florida, Spirit said it was not able to send notices about layoffs as it was continuing to negotiate with lenders for more financial help. It said filing WARN notices would have “materially and adversely impacted Spirit’s ability to raise additional capital.”
“We regret that we are not able to give you more notice of your layoff. We were not able to do so because the Company was actively seeking capital to avoid these layoffs and closures and notice would have precluded the Company from obtaining the capital needed,” Spirit said in the letter, which was attached in the lawsuit.
The Trump administration had considered a government bailout for the cash-strapped business to keep it from going under, but a deal was not reached. Of the potential bailout, Duffy said Saturday “we often times don’t have half a billion dollars laying around.”
Read more Man seriously burned after car fire along westbound US 60 in East Valley