A former employee of Shari’s restaurants has filed a class-action lawsuit following the sudden closure of the company’s locations across Oregon last month, arguing the company didn’t give enough notice to staff, as required by state law.
First reported by The Oregonian, the lawsuit was filed by Heidi Woebbeking, who worked for the company for about six months before it abruptly closed its restaurants on Oct. 20. Woebbeking alleges Shari’s and its parent company, Gather Holdings Guarantee, did not provide staff with at least 60 days notice, as required by law when companies plan mass layoffs. State law requires employers to notify workers ahead of mass layoffs through the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN.
Attorney Nathan Ring, representing Woebbeking, said Shari’s “acted willfully” in ignoring its legal obligations.
“… (Shari’s) cannot establish that they had any reasonable grounds or basis for believing their actions were not in violation of the WARN Act,” Ring wrote in the complaint.