Lawsuit Claims Yellow Conducted Mass Layoffs Without Proper Warning
In a recent development, trucking giant Yellow Corp. is facing a major class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that Yellow failed to adhere to the legally required notice period before laying off a significant number of workers.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Delaware on August 1, targeting Nashville-headquartered Yellow Corp.
According to the lawsuit, Yellow initiated mass layoffs starting around July 28, 2023, without providing the mandatory 60 days of advance written notice as specified by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
Representing the affected employees, the lawsuit is led by Armando Rivera, a dedicated dockworker at the Bloomington, California facility, who had been working for Yellow Corp. from July 1998 until July 2023.
Lawsuit Alleges Violations and Demands Compensation
The staggering number of workers impacted by the layoffs reaches around 30,000 due to facility closures. Approximately 22,000 of them are union members.
The lawsuit asserts that Yellow Corp. violated laws similar to WARN in California and New Jersey. These states also mandate several weeks of notice before conducting mass layoffs.
As a remedy for the alleged violations, the lawsuit demands the payment of 60 days’ worth of unpaid wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday pay, vacation pay, pension, 401(k) contributions, and other ERISA benefits that would have been granted to the abruptly terminated employees under the WARN law.
The lawsuit lists Yellow Corp.’s subsidiaries, including YRC Inc., USF Holland LLC, New Penn Motor Express LLC, and USF Reddaway Inc., as co-defendants.
Bankruptcy Filing Amid Ongoing Tensions
The news of Yellow Corp.’s termination of operations was verified by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) on Monday morning. The union confirmed that they were served legal notice regarding the company’s cessation of operations and its subsequent bankruptcy filing. This comes amid ongoing tensions between Yellow Corp. and the labor union.
In 2020 Yellow received $700 million in COVID-19 relief funding. This resulted in the federal government holding a 30% stake in the company. Yellow Corp. has encountered major difficulties in repaying the loan.
Yellow Corp., which originated as Yellow Transit Freight Lines in 1924 in Oklahoma City, founded by brothers Cleve and A.J. Harrell.
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