Lawsuit Claims GE Transportation Workers Owed for Unused Vacation Days After Feb. 2019 Sale to Wabtec

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A proposed class and collective action out of Pennsylvania claims General Electric Company employees who came to work for Wabtec Corporation as part of GE’s February 2019 sale of its transportation unit were not paid for unused vacation days.

The lawsuit alleges that after freight car and locomotive product manufacturer Wabtec purchased GE Transportation on February 25, 2019, employees who were separated from both GE and Wabtec were properly paid for their unused vacation days according to General Electric’s vacation and leave policy. The plaintiff claims, however, that former GE employees who went on to work for Wabtec after the sale were denied proper pay for their unused vacation days despite GE’s policy that those who leave the company “for any reason” will receive such wages.

The lawsuit out of Pennsylvania state court explains that under GE’s vacation and leave policy, employees who started with the company before June 18, 2007 are entitled to be paid for any unused vacation days upon their departure, including upon “resignation, discharge, retirement, layoff, disability or death.” More specifically, under the defendant’s “Annual Vacation Allotment Method,” those who started prior to June 18, 2007 earn vacation time based on their length of continuous service with GE on January 1 of each calendar year, according to the case. Alternatively, employees who began with GE on or after June 18, 2007 are entitled to be paid for any earned but unused vacation days under the company’s “Earn As You Go” policy, which allows workers to earn a fraction of their annual vacation days each month, according to the lawsuit. Though “Earn as Your Go” employees may take vacation days before they’ve been earned, the workers are not paid for any unearned vacation days upon their departure from the company, the case says.

The plaintiff argues that he and other workers who were separated from GE but went on to work for Wabtec have not been paid for their earned vacation days in accordance with company policy, which the lawsuit argues constitutes both a breach of contract and a violation of the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law. Under the statute, vacation days are considered “fringe benefits” that must be paid to employees during their employment and upon their separation from an employer, the suit says.

The plaintiff looks to represent anyone who worked for the GE Transportation unit and was not paid for earned but unused vacation time after being separated from the company as a result of the Wabtec acquisition in February 2019.