UPDATE 11/21/2024
On July 30, 2024, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court granted preliminary approval of a $20 million global settlement with the owners of Bitwise, of which $6 million is earmarked to settle the WARN class action. Notice of the terms of the settlement was mailed to all class members on September 5, 2024. The court granted final approval of the settlement on November 20, 2024.
The settlement class is defined as former employees who suffered an employment loss on or within thirty days of May 29, 2023, as part of a plant closing or mass layoff or as the reasonably foreseeable consequence of a plant closing.
We anticipate that settlement checks will be mailed to the class around March 31, 2025, with the potential for a second round of settlement checks once the chapter 7 bankruptcy is concluded, sometime in late 2026. We do not yet know the amount or timing of that second payment.
As soon as we have more information on the case, including when settlement checks will be mailed, we will post it here.
If you have moved, please use our contact us form to update your current address as soon as possible.
PREVIOUS UPDATES
Raisner Roupinian LLP filed a class action complaint on June 6, 2023, against Bitwise Industries, Inc., Alphaworks Technologies, LLC, Jake Soberal, and Irma Olguin, Jr. (“Defendants”) seeking to recover 60 days’ wages and benefits for terminated employees under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN Act”) and the California Labor Code (“CAL-WARN Act”), in addition to unpaid wages, vacation pay, and penalties under applicable state wage laws.
We contend the Defendants ordered mass layoffs, plant closings, or termination of a covered establishment on or about May 29, 2023, and within 30 days of that date, without providing 60 days’ advance written notice as required by the WARN Act and the CAL-WARN Act. We further contend that Defendants failed to pay employees their wages in the weeks leading up to their termination.
The case was subsequently moved from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
On August 7, 2024, we sent an email update to our retained clients. If you completed our retainer agreement and did not receive this email update, please check your spam folder, or contact us.
WARN ACT – CONTACT US
If this mass layoff affected you, Raisner Roupinian LLP can provide you with updated information regarding your rights in this case. Generally, the WARN Act requires companies to provide their employees with 60 days’ written notice in advance of a mass layoff or plant closing. In the absence of such notice, employers may be liable to each affected employee for 60 days’ wages and benefits.
If you have any questions regarding this matter or to update your address, email address, and/or telephone number, please contact us.