Third Circuit Adopts ‘Probable’ Standard for WARN Act Noticing

Andy Kassner and Joe Argentina authored a column in The Legal Intelligencer titled “Third Circuit Adopts ‘Probable’ Standard for WARN Act Noticing.”

The article discusses the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Varela v. AE Liquidation, Inc. The case centered on the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires certain employers to give employees at least 60 days’ notice of impending mass layoffs. In this case, the Third Circuit held that the defendant corporation was not liable under the WARN Act because at the 60-day mark, the mass layoff was not “probable.”

The Third Circuit’s application of the “probable” standard is good news for employers, since it is more difficult to prove than the “reasonably possible” standard that the plaintiff employees argued the court should apply. However, Andy and Joe remind the reader that the court also noted that the probability of layoffs will be evaluated objectively according to the individual circumstances of each case.

Read “Third Circuit Adopts ‘Probable’ Standard for WARN Act Noticing.”