Approximately 175 Employees Laid Off Without Notice in LaFayette
The front of the former Unique Fabricating plant in LaFayette, which shut down on Wednesday.
LAFAYETTE, Ga. (WDEF)- Former employees and labor officials say they were blindsided by a Walker County plant’s decision to suddenly close on Wednesday.
Unique Fabricating employees like Terry Heard were hard at work on Wednesday in LaFayette when they received a stunning order.
Heard said, “The upper management was in meetings, and next thing I know around noon or one they told us to shut it down… and we were dismissed.”
According to a representative from the Georgia Department of Labor at their Lafayette office, they were not given a heads up from Unique Fabricating about the closure.
The Georgia WARN Act requires plants to give at least a 60 day notice.
The penalty for not meeting this requirement is according to the Department of Labor, “Liable to each aggrieved employee for an amount including back pay and benefits for the period of violation, up to 60 days.”
They say there were approximately 175 employees at the plant, and as of early Wednesday afternoon about 50 of them had filed for unemployment at their office.
The representative from the labor office told us that this was the worst sudden employee separation situation they had ever seen.
The word of the closing according to employees like Chastity McDonald who came into work later that afternoon for second shift, was not passed along.
McDonald said, “ I go into work as usual, and when I get there, no one is at work but the production manager.”
McDonald says that administrators have not been helpful, as she claims she has not received her final full check.
We reached out to Unique Fabricating, who is based in Michigan and makes automotive parts, to ask why they shut down the Lafayette plant.
A spokesperson over the phone told us they are refusing to comment at this time.
However, in a filing with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, the document stated the company has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Their stock price had fallen from $12 dollars a share in 2016 to just 16 cents a share this week, nearly a 99 percent loss in market value.
When we visited the former plant, a job application sign was still taped to the front door, but no one was there on site midday Thursday.
For the former employees of Unique Fabrication, they are left picking up the pieces as they head into the holiday season jobless.
McDonald said, “It would have nice for a heads up. You know it’s just not okay to blindside someone when you’re messing with their livelihood, with their family.”
Heard said, “Well, a lot of people were close like family, we were here everyday. Some of them were crying, and I just told them to keep faith in the Good Lord.”
