They say there is no wrath like that a woman scorned, but these former employees are giving that maxim a run for its money.
After abruptly losing their jobs without warning, these ex-employees have fought for the last eight months to obtain the payment they say they deserve. Meanwhile, the company they used to work for before it went bankrupt has gotten its business back on track without facing the repercussions of its actions so far.
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Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market joined forces in November 2023 to form Outfox Hospitality. This partnership would feature a mix of a classic convenience store and a neighborhood café spanning major cities in the U.S.
Unfortunately, the business failed, and Outfoxt filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy only five short months after the new company was formed. Subsequently, it had to shut down all its locations to pay off its accumulated high debt.
Related: Popular bankrupt restaurant chain reopens first store
The bankruptcy didn’t only affect Outfox’s owners, but it also left approximately 100 corporate employees and 1,000 service employees jobless without prior warning, as the company failed to inform its workforce of the closures beforehand.
A Foxtrot Market store in Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago Tribune/Getty Images
Outfox employees retaliate against its wrongdoings
After the shocking news settled in, the former Outfox employees refused to let the company get away with infringing the law and took legal action immediately.
In April 2024, Outfox’s former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the company for failing to notify its employees about the mass layoffs at least 60 days before the planned closures as it violates the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
Foxtrot reopens multiple stores after the bankruptcy filing
Instead of paying back its former employees, Foxtrot began reopening stores, now under the name Foxtrot Café & Market, this time without its previous partner, Dom’s Kitchen & Market.
On Sept. 5, Foxtrot reopened its first location in Chicago’s Gold Coast, only five months after it filed for bankruptcy under Outfox Hospitality.
Related: Formerly bankrupt restaurant chain reopens fifth location
However, The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) and Outfox’s former employees refused to give up their fight.
On Oct. 30, IDOL filed three separate federal bankruptcy claims against Outfox Hospitality, seeking the payment of wages and benefits the company owed its employees after violating the WARN law.
Outfox gets sued by The Illinois Department of Labor for breaking labor laws
With five fully open locations in the Chicago area and more coming soon, Foxtrot seems to be doing just fine on its own. However, its previous iteration hasn’t been able to completely move away from its recent past.
On Thursday, IDOL filed a lawsuit against Outfox on behalf of 350 Illinois-based former Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen and Market employees for infringing labor laws. It seeks $3.8 million in wages from the bankrupt company created after the merger.
The lawsuit claimed that the company had violated the WARN law, which requires companies to give employees 60 days’ notice before any planned closures or mass layoffs. Employers who don’t follow this law may also be subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 for each day the notice is violated.
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“The Illinois Department of Labor works every day to protect and recover unpaid wages owed to workers across the State,” said IDOL Director Jane Flanagan. “In cases such as these, the Department is committed to pursuing all legal paths against employers who fail to abide by their obligations under WARN.”
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