CHICAGO — Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen and Market are facing a lawsuit after they suddenly shut down Tuesday.
The abrupt closures stunned shoppers as well as employees, who said they received zero notice they were losing their jobs and are now suing the company.
Ali McGrew was at Dom’s in Old Town when they announced the closure.
“We received a bunch of texts first, warnings and then we ran here and couldn’t believe it was real,” McGrew, a customer, said. “It was a really uncomfortable vibe and all of the employees looked like they were about to cry and angry.”
She said it was clear they had no idea.
“They were like devasted, shocked,” she said. “It was really sad.”
Syed Hussain filed a class action lawsuit in federal court Wednesday morning on behalf of his client, a former Foxtrot worker who has fired without warning.
“Employees went into the store not knowing that it would be their last day and were told to go home and find other work,” Hussain said.
The lawsuit claims that violates workers’ rights, under the WARN Act.
“What that means is basically Foxtrot has a duty to inform or give notice to their employees that mass layoffs of this sort was coming down at least 60 days in advance and they did not do that,” Hussain said.
Hussain said he hasn’t heard from company officials about the closures but he’s hoping the lawsuit helps employees get at least 60 days of backpay.
“We have to send the message that this is not ok the way they handled it is not ok and people are upset and distraught and hopefully we can do something for them,” Hussain said.
Former employees of Dom’s as well as Foxtrot are encouraged to reach out to an attorney as plaintiffs are still being added to the lawsuit.