GDC Technics class action certified for WARN Act and accrued Paid Time Off (PTO) claims
GDC Technics class action certified for WARN Act and accrued Paid Time Off (PTO) claims
After a series of hard-fought motions to dismiss and to stop class certification, the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas granted the employees of GDC Technics class certification for their claims seeking WARN Act back pay and accrued PTO wages.
GDC Technics, most notably, was the aircraft customizer that outfitted Air Force One, which transports the President of the United States of America. In April 2021, disputes between GDC and Boeing led to the cancellation of GDC’s contract for work on Air Force One. GDC closed its facility in San Antonio, Texas, ceased most operations at its Fort Worth headquarters and filed for bankruptcy. More than 200 employees were terminated with little or no warning.
Representing a GDC engineer who was terminated as part of the mass layoff, Raisner Roupinian filed suit against GDC alleging violation of the WARN Act. The lawsuit also alleges that GDC’s employee handbook provided that employees would be paid their accrued paid time off (“PTO”) upon separation, which constituted a contractual promise. GDC moved to dismiss the PTO claim, arguing that, under Texas law, employee handbooks are not enforceable contracts. Although Texas employees seeking to enforce the terms of an employee handbook are often unsuccessful, Raisner Roupinian argued that because GDC required employees to sign an agreement to abide by the terms in the handbook, it was a valid contract. The Court agreed and denied GDC’s motion to dismiss. In a second round of briefing and argument, GDC attempted to stop the case from proceeding as a class action, arguing that the circumstances of each employees’ contract were too unique to be tried together. Raisner Roupinian prevailed in arguing that the employees were similarly situated and obtained class certification. The case is going forward on behalf of all the terminated GDC employees. The class certification decision received coverage in the San Antonio Express-News.