On November 6, 2018, we filed a class action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California against Zacky Farms, LLC and Zacky & Sons Poultry, LLC (“Defendants”) seeking to recover 60 days wages and benefits for former employees of Defendants under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (“federal WARN Act”) and the California Labor Code § 1400 et. seq. (“California WARN Act”). We contend the Defendants ordered mass layoffs beginning on October 29, 2018 at the Fresno and Stockton locations without providing 60 days advance written notice to their employees as required by the federal and California WARN Acts.
On November 13, 2018, Zacky & Sons Poultry, LLC dba Zacky Farms filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. On November 14, 2018, we transferred our class action to the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, where the litigation is continuing.
On January 12, 2021, the parties reached a proposed settlement of the class action which is subject to the Bankruptcy Court’s approval.
On February 3, 2021, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement and set a fairness hearing for April 13, 2021 to decide whether to grant final approval of the settlement. On February 12, 2021, the Class Notice containing information about the terms of the settlement was mailed to each Class Member.
The Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California granted final approval of the WARN class action settlement on April 13, 2021. The Zacky Estate does not have sufficient funds to pay the $900,000 settlement amount in full. We estimate the Class will receive, instead, approximately $525,000. Settlement checks will be mailed to class members (net of class counsel’s fees, expenses, service payments, and applicable payroll withholding) by July 30, 2021. When we have the exact date of mailing, we will post it here. Settlement checks not deposited or cashed 180 days from the date of distribution will be donated to United for Respect, a nonprofit organization which advocates on behalf of employees’ rights.
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