in Newswire Published on December 21, 2022

Health IQ Failed to Provide Mandatory Notice Prior to December 2022 Layoffs, Class Actions Allege

Quiles v. Hi.Q, Inc.

Filed: December 20, 2022 ◆§ 5:22-cv-00669

Health IQ has been hit with at least two class actions over its alleged failure to provide mandatory written advanced notice prior to a mass layoff earlier this month.

Defendant(s)

Hi.Q, Inc. Health IQ

Law(s)

WARN Act

State(s)

Florida

Health IQ has been hit with at least two proposed class actions over its alleged failure to provide mandatory advanced written notice prior to terminating approximately 700 to 1,000 workers earlier this month.

The cases allege the Florida-based health insurance broker violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by failing to provide at least 60 days’ advance written notice before a mass layoff or plant closing. According to one of the suits, Health IQ provided its employees with zero days’ notice, even though the layoffs had long been foreseen.

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The purpose of the WARN Act, one suit relays, is to provide “workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain alternative jobs and, if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining that will allow these workers to successfully compete in the job market.”

One complaint states that Health IQ will likely claim exemption from WARN Act requirements by arguing that the mass layoff was a result of “unforeseeable business circumstances,” such as inflation or financial issues, and therefore, the company could not have provided 60 days’ advance written notice.

However, a 2022 Coverager article reveals that the terminations were, in fact, expected and foreseeable, one case relays. From Coverager:

“Our sources tell us that Health IQ wasn’t able to secure needed funding. The company is also facing a class action lawsuit, which alleges that it made telemarketing calls offering health insurance to consumers in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

One former employee we spoke with shared that this was a surprise since it was communicated that the company was doing well. According to our sources, the company failed to meet its sales goals.”

Even if an employer cannot provide 60 days’ prior notice of termination, it is still required under the WARN Act to provide employees with “as much notice as is practicable,” the filings say. Health IQ also failed to meet this requirement, the suits contends.

Additionally, the only written form that Health IQ provided to its employees cannot be considered a compliant WARN Act notice because the document lacks mandatory information regarding specific details of the mass layoff, one lawsuit says.

As a company that employs 100 or more full-time workers, or 100 or more workers who clock at least 4,000 hours per week exclusive of overtime, Health IQ was required to comply with the WARN ACT, the filings explain. Per the suits, the terminations ordered by Health IQ on December 8 and 15 of this year are considered a “mass layoff” under the law since the company let go of at least 50 of its employees, constituting 33 percent of its total workforce or more.

The suits further contend that affected individuals are entitled to their respective wages and benefits they would have accrued for 60 days following their terminations that Health IQ has failed to pay.

The lawsuits look to represent all former Health IQ employees, including those who worked remotely, throughout the United States who were not given a minimum of 60 days’ written notice of termination and whose employment was terminated on or about December 8 or 15, 2022 as a result of a mass layoff or plant closing.

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