Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 372
In 5 class certification decisions over the past year, plaintiffs prevailed 100 percent of
the time.
Many WARN Act decisions in 2022 involved employers implementing RIFs in
connection with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Significant COVID-19-related WARN
Act decisions in 2022 can be grouped into several categories, including: (i) rulings on
class certification in cases involving employee furloughs resulting from the pandemic
(including rulings on state law claims based on employers temporarily furloughing
and/or permanently laying off employees); (ii) rulings interpreting what constitutes a
“single site of employment” under the WARN Act with respect to remote or hybrid
employees; (iii) rulings interpreting the WARN Act’s “natural disaster” exception; and (iv)
rulings interpreting the WARN Act’s “unforeseeable business circumstances” exception.
In addition, some 2022 WARN Act decisions involved issues outside the context of
COVID-19, including when employers can compel arbitration of WARN Act claims and
the appropriate scope of discovery in WARN Act litigation.
A.
Rulings On Class Certification Or Summary Judgment In WARN Act
Litigation
Employers largely failed in attempting to defeat various class certification motions in
2022 by attacking the basis of the motions as insufficient under Rule 23. Hornbook case
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Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023
