Lehman former employees sue for back pay and benefits

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Nov. 4 - Former employees of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. filed a class-action lawsuit, accusing the company of violating employee rights and labor laws when it terminated the workers without the required minimum 60-day advance notice, according to a Tuesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to court documents, the plaintiffs want back pay for the 60-day period as well as contributions of employee benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Meanwhile, some of the former employees who worked at or reported to one of Lehman's New Jersey facilities are looking to recover lost wages, benefits and other remuneration, including severance pay equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment.

The plaintiffs said roughly 1,000 employees were terminated without cause on Sept. 9.

Since the plaintiffs are seeking damages from the period of time after the company filed for bankruptcy, they said their claim should count as administrative priority. The plaintiffs said the amount of their claim exceeds $5 million.

New York-based Lehman Brothers Holdings is the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States. The company filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15. Its Chapter 11 case number is 08-13555.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.