A laid-off employee from battery maker Alevo filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal bankruptcy court alleging the company violated a law requiring it to give workers 60 days’ notice of a downsizing, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported today. The U.S. arms of Alevo, the Swiss battery maker with a high-profile Russian investor, on Friday filed for chapter 11 protection and announced layoffs for 290 workers in Concord, northeast of Charlotte. The plaintiff, Jerome Singleton, worked as a project manager until Friday at Alevo’s facility located at a former Philip Morris cigarette factory in Concord, the suit says. According to the complaint, he received no advanced notice of the layoff or any explanation. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, alleges the company did not provide required notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and asks the federal bankruptcy court for “statutory remedies, as well as unpaid wages.”
