REPORT: Former Telltale employees file class-action lawsuit alleging violations of the WARN Act.
The article basically says it all. Best of luck with them.
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The article basically says it all. Best of luck with them.
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Boy if suing Telltale is such a lucrative use of one's time maybe I should file a lawsuit!
Breaking my heart must be grounds for a court case right
Sue them for what?
The company has no money
It is possible Telltale could win if they truly did go bankrupt out of no where, but theyd have to provide evidence they didnt see shutting down so suddenly as an option.
I wonder if they win could this maybe keep the company from shutting down and bring back some of the workers?
They have a strong case, from what I can tell.
Dude, they were treating the place like a sweatshop and mishandled this so badly to the point where employees were upset enough to sue. Put yourself in their shoes; would you really want to go back to that?
As crazy as this sounds, some employees would probably go back and finish The Walking Dead:The Final Season as it is a project that they have worked on and they have expressed disappointment at potentially not being able to come back to see it through to the end. Another reason may be that it would be a much safer bet than to travel across the US for an interview and not get the job. Their spot would be guaranteed if Telltale did ask them to return as they would be asked to come back by the company. But whether or not they come back all hinges on if there will be a severance pay awaiting them when they finish The Final Season and if they will receive pay according to the hours they worked so they can support themselves and their families. Hope I made sense
Not really, and here's why:
What the former employees are saying here is that Telltale management violated the WARN Act, which can require harsh financial penalties if found guilty, including back pay and benefits for each violated day in accordance with both the federal version and the state of California's version of the law (as Telltale is located in California).
Under the federal WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act of 1988, companies with more than 100 employees are required to provide 60 days of advance notice before mass layoffs (so that would mean Telltale might be financially obligated to pay both backpay and benefits for 250+ employees for 60 days, plus interest). Mass layoffs would be considered, under the law, a termination of 50 or more employees within a 30 day period, if the total comprises of at least 1/3rd of the companies workforce, which would apply to Telltale since they fired 90% of their workforce. The law was passed thanks to a veto-proof Democratic majority of both houses of Congress, without President Ronald Reagan's signature. In a very Democratic-heavy state like California, laws of this nature are much stricter and harder for companies to challenge.
However, under the federal version of the law, there are noticeable exceptions that can be found which may benefit Telltale in their case. The most notable is what's known as the "unforeseeable business circumstances" clause. For a company to use this as a defense, they must prove that the layoffs were caused by factors that were not reasonably foreseeable (reasonable being a key term here which is frequently used in law, but is often very subjective in nature). With the recent revelation that the planned investments with AMC, Lionsgate, and Smilegate did not come to fruition as was expected, this could potentially be used as a legal defense by the company. As the layoffs came as a result of these deals not being made, it ultimately prompted Telltale to start immediately laying off staff to save money. However, disputes may be raised as to whether this could be seen as "reasonably foreseeable" and can be argued as reckless behavior by Telltale's management (they put all of their eggs in one basket, which was not a very smart move, so they may have some culpability that puts this out of the realm of not being reasonable). In my opinion, if a contract between the parties was reached and one of the investing parties suddenly pulled out of the agreement and withdrew their financial investment, Telltale would probably have a much stronger case here. But since that didn't happen and Telltale sort of jumped the gun in assuming the deals were set in stone, this could work against them.
However, let's say their defense works, that still does not put Telltale out of danger, because the lawsuit, while filed in federal court, also cites California's version of the law. As mentioned, California's laws regarding this matter are much more strict and far more favorable to employees and workers. One such difference between the federal version and California's version: there is no "unforeseeable business circumstances" clause under California law. Meaning that, even in situations where there is an unforeseeable cause that prompted mass layoffs, the company may still be held culpable for their actions and be forced to pay their employees for the full 60 days. So in this regard, Telltale is pretty much screwed. Richard Hoeg, an attorney, even said: "The fact that California did not bring over the pertinent exemption would seem to put [Telltale] in a precarious compliance position with the state.”
TL;DR: Telltale is probably fucked legally, even with the revelation of investment deals going south because of California's stricter laws regarding mass layoffs.
I wasn't siding with Telltale with my post, I was siding with the employees.
idk much about laws but it'd probably be better for the employees to win so other companies in the future won't do what telltale did to its workers. it needs to set an example.