A laid-off Qimonda worker is suing the Henrico County computer chipmaker for two months' pay and benefits in a federal class-action case.
"They didn't give advance notice to employees before letting them go," said attorney Jack A. Raisner. "We're alleging that's a violation under the WARN Act."
Carl Jackson filed suit on behalf of himself and other Qimonda workers.
He alleged that he and others were not given the 60-day written notice of their terminations, or 60 days' pay, that the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification -- WARN -- Act requires.
Court papers estimated the damages sought at $20 million but, said New York employment-rights lawyer Raisner, "it could be much less, it could be much more," depending on the number of employees affected and their actual wages and benefits.
Qimonda announced 1,500 layoffs -- including Jackson's, the court papers said -- at its memory-chip plant in Sandston this week.
Those came on top of 1,200 job cuts last fall.
The company has said it was in financial distress, and as a result exempted from the law.
A Qimonda North American spokesman declined yesterday to discuss the case filed Thursday in U.S. District Court here. "We wouldn't be commenting on any kind of litigation," Glen Haley said.
Qimonda laid off 500 employees over the course of two days this week. Another 500 were given dates within the next month. The remaining will be leaving through April.
Qimonda's parent company, Qimonda AG, filed for insolvency protection in Germany last month, which is similar to bankruptcy in the U.S.
Since then, the company has not provided operating cash to the Sandston plant or been able to buy any memory-chip wafers the facility produces.
The suit asks for the unpaid wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday and vacation pay, and pension contributions and benefits that the affected Qimonda employees would have received for 60 days, as well as interest and legal fees.
The case filed here names Qimonda North America Corp. and Qimonda Richmond LLC as defendants. Haley said Qimonda North America and Qimonda Richmond are separate legal entities.
Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or pbacque@timesdispatch.com.
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