Charming Charlie Class Action Filed Over Mass Layoffs

A recent Charming Charlie class action claims that the retail chain failed to give employees proper notice before closing their doors.

Named plaintiff Lauren Wilrich says Charming Charlie did not give their employees 60 days notice before laying them off, closing their doors, and declaring bankruptcy.

According to Wilrich, who worked as a copywriter for Charming Charlie, failure to provide notice to their employees violates the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

“Defendants failed to pay plaintiff and each of the class members their respective wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, health and life insurance premiums, accrued holiday pay and accrued vacation for 60 days following their respective terminations, and failed to provide employee benefits including health insurance, for 60 days from and after the dates of their respective terminations,” Wilrich claims in her Charming Charlie class action.

The WARN Act requires employers over a certain size to provide 60 days notice before mass layoffs and plant closings. The goal of the federal law is to make sure that workers and their loved ones have time to adjust to the changes. Advanced notice allows them ample time to secure other employment and take other measures to help them succeed.

Charming Charlie allegedly failed to follow these procedures when they declared bankruptcy in early July. According to the company’s Chapter 11 filing, Charming Charlie will be closing all of its 260 retail locations in the coming months.

A little over a year ago, Charming Charlie restructured their business in court by reducing the number of retail locations and shifting their focus to a “back to basics” model which had previously brought them success.

Unfortunately, this change of pace did not have much success for the women’s accessory retailer and Charming Charlie declared bankruptcy as a result. Chapter 11 filings for the company reportedly blamed reduced customer traffic, economic trends in the retail sector, and lease obligations for their decision to close their business.

The retailer reportedly owes $9.5 million for a prepetition asset-based loan, $62.3 million to other loan lenders, and $10 million to a facility that helped the business finance their vendor payments. Although these debts have put pressure on the company, Wilrich argues that Charming Charlie still should have followed the law and given their 200 or so employees proper notice.

Wilrich seeks to represent a Class of Charming Charlie’s former employees who were terminated without cause or as part of the mass layoffs between July 12, 2019 and Aug. 11, 2019.

The Charming Charlie class action seeks unpaid wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, holiday pay, vacation pay, pensions, 401(k) contributions and other ERISA benefits for up to 60 days in addition to damages, interest, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Wilrich and the proposed Class are represented by Christopher D. Loizides of Loizides PA and Jack A. Raisner and René S. Roupinian of Outten & Golden LLP.

The Charming Charlie Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Charming Charlie Holdings Inc., et al., Case No. 1:19-bk-11534, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

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