Bed Bath & Beyond, Harmon Owed 60 Days’ Notice Prior to 2023 Layoffs, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action out of New Jersey alleges Bed Bath & Beyond and Harmon Stores failed to provide employees with proper advance notice prior to mass layoffs in February and March 2023.

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The 11-page lawsuit claims the retailers violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and the New Jersey WARN Act by failing to give employees at least 60 days’ advance written notice before terminating a large portion of its workforce.

According to the New York Times, the mass layoffs occurred roughly a month after parent company Bed Bath & Beyond announced on January 26 that it would be closing all 49 Harmon locations, which sold discount beauty, health and cosmetics products. It wasn’t until late February that employees learned the stores would close in a week, the March 20 article reports.

The plaintiff, a former Harmon store manager, says he did not receive a proper WARN Act notice at least 60 days before he was laid off on March 2. The complaint further charges that the defendants failed to provide the plaintiff and other affected individuals severance pay, which amounts to one week of pay for each full year of employment.

Bed Bath & Beyond and Harmon have also failed to pay terminated employees their respective wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, benefits and accrued holiday and vacation pay following their terminations, the suit claims.

According to the case, Bed Bath & Beyond and Harmon were required to comply with the WARN Act since the companies let go at least 33 percent of their workforce and at least 50 full-time employees. The companies’ layoffs were also subject to WARN Act notice requirements given that they employ 100 or more workers who clock at least 4,000 hours per week exclusive of overtime within the United States, the filing states.

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone who worked for Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. and Harmon Stores, Inc. whose employment was terminated as the reasonably foreseeable consequence of the mass layoffs, termination of operations, and/or plant closure ordered by the companies.

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