DBi Services Owed Advance Notice Prior to Abrupt October 2021 Layoff, Class Action Argues

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DBi Services and Sterling Partners Equity Advisors face a proposed class action after allegedly failing to provide mandatory 60 days’ notice prior to a mass worker layoff on October 22, 2021. 

The 10-page case alleges DBi, an asset management and nationwide infrastructure services company, and parent Sterling ran afoul of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act when they terminated without advance written notice roughly 1,500 workers, including at their South Point, Ohio and Hazleton, Pennsylvania facilities. The terminated workers are owed at least 60 days’ worth of wages, health insurance coverage, commissions, bonuses, 401(k) contributions and accrued holiday and vacation pay, the case contends.

According to the suit, DBi and Sterling were subject to WARN Act requirements given they acted as a “single employer” who employed 100 or more workers, exclusive of part-time employees, or employed 100 or more individuals who in aggregate worked at least 4,000 hours per week, exclusive of overtime, while employing more than 50 people at each facility. The lawsuit claims the mass layoff falls within the scope of the WARN Act given at least 33 percent of DBi’s workforce and at least 50 employees were laid off. 

In a statement released Monday, DBi said it “deeply regrets the impact on its valued employees, customers, suppliers and partners, and is working diligently to manage as smooth a transition as possible.” A report from WNEP Newswatch 16 relays that shocked employees were informed of the mass layoff, which the company said stemmed from “continued operating and financial challenges, and sudden and unexpected setbacks,” by way of a three-minute video on the afternoon of Friday, October 22. 

“The Company explored every viable alternative to avoid this outcome, working together with its outside advisors, investors, lenders and sureties to try to identify a resolution to address the issues at hand and enable the Company to move forward,” DBi said on its website. 

A report from the Standard-Speaker states that although employees “saw the writing on the wall,” many didn’t want to believe that DBi, a more than 40-year-old company with locations in 45 states, would just close up shop abruptly. 

The lawsuit looks to represent all individuals who worked at DBi Service’s facilities in South Point, Ohio or Hazleton, Pennsylvania and were terminated as part of or as the reasonably foreseeable result of the mass layoff and/or plant closing ordered by DBi and Sterling Partners Equity Advisors on or about October 22, 2021.

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