Virgin Orbit Hit with WARN Act Class Action Over ‘Foreseeable’ Pre-Bankruptcy Layoffs

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action alleges Virgin Orbit failed to provide hundreds of employees with at least 60 days’ notice of impending layoffs in the run-up to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on April 4, 2023. 

Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here. 

The 12-page suit alleges the defunct rocket company, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson and reeling from a failed launch earlier this year, violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act when it failed to provide roughly 675 workers with at least 60 days’ advance written notice of the “mass layoff.” 

California-based Virgin Orbit disclosed in a public filing in late March that it would be laying off the employees, about 85 percent of its workforce, to “reduce expenses in light of the Company’s inability to secure meaningful funding.” According to media reports, Virgin Orbit hit a rough patch in January when, during its first attempt to launch a satellite from U.K. soil, one of its rockets failed to make it into orbit due to an overheated engine.

The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Bankruptcy Court on April 4, calls the Virgin Orbit layoffs “foreseeable” and alleges the company owes proposed class members their respective wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, health and life insurance premiums, accrued holiday pay, accrued paid time off for 60 days post-termination, and health insurance benefits. 

The plaintiff, a California resident who worked for Virgin Orbit as an EMI/EMC design and test lead from May 2021 until April 3 of this year, claims to have received on March 30 a letter that stated, in part, “Due to unforeseen financial and capital issues, Virgin Orbit, LLC regrets to inform you that your services will no longer be needed as of April 3, 2023 and your employment with Virgin Orbit will terminate as of that date.” 

“At no time prior to March 31, 2023, did Plaintiff receive written notice that his employment would be terminated,” the case claims. 

According to the New York Times, Virgin Orbit’s “unusual” method for getting satellites into space involved using a converted Boeing 747 aircraft to carry a satellite-toting rocket under its wing, and when aloft, the rocket would detach, fire its engines and climb into orbit before then releasing the satellite. 

During the company’s launch attempt in January from Cornwall, England, nine satellites on board were lost after the rocket failed to reach orbit, the publication said, noting that Virgin Orbit’s stock price began to drop shortly thereafter. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who worked at, received assignments from or reported to Virgin Orbit’s Long Beach or Mojave, California facilities and were terminated without cause during the 30-day period prior to April 3, 2023, or were terminated without cause as the “reasonably foreseeable consequence” of the mass layoff/plant closing ordered by the company during the 30 days preceding April 3, 2023.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.