A former employee of Limestone University has filed a class action lawsuit against the now-shuttered college, claiming it did not provide adequate notice of impending layoffs.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Spartanburg, avers that Limestone violated the state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Actwhich requires employers to “provide notice 60 days prior to covered closings and covered mass layoffs.”
WARN generally covers employers of 100 or more. Limestone’s notice date for impending layoffs was April 17. By April 30, 478 employees of Limestone were let go.
The suit seeks back pay for affected employees. If found guilty of violating the WARN Act, Limestone could be fined as much as $500 for each day in violation.
Limestone lasted 179 years, but ran into financial hard times over the past few years with dwindling enrollment. In April, the college’s Board of Trustees announced a $30 million budget shortfall and that Limestone would require at least $6 million in new revenue to keep the doors open.
In the days that followedBoard Chairman Randall Richardson said Limestone might have found a funding source, but the college did not collect as much money as needed to stay open. The board voted to close Limestone following its last commencement ceremony on May 3, displacing about 1,700 students and roughly 500 faculty and staff.
