A group of former Spirit Airlines employees is looking to challenge the terms of their dismissal in federal court.
A proposed class-action lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, accuses the now-defunct Spirit of violating labor laws by laying off about 17,000 workers with no advance notice on May 2.
According to the complaint, employees were notified of the carrier’s shutdown via email early that day and immediately lost access to benefits, such as accrued vacation and sick pay, and company systems. While the airline said workers would be paid through May 2, some employees still have not received their final paychecks, the filing stated.
The plaintiffs cited the federal WARN Act, which generally requires large companies to give advance notice of mass layoffs. They are seeking damages equal to 60 days of wages and benefits, the notice period usually required by the law.
Spirit has not commented on the proposed lawsuit.
The former carrier is now heading toward liquidation, and its aircraft are being returned to lessors or prepared for auction. A small core of remaining employees, around 150, are overseeing the wind-down.
In legal filings, Spirit blamed its collapse on the sudden surge in jet fuel prices that started when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in March. The airline was negotiating for a $500 million bailout from the Trump administration, but some of its creditors objected to terms that would have given the federal government a substantial stake in the company. When the White House ended talks, executives began preparing for a shutdown.
According to the proposed lawsuit, Spirit told employees that it could not have provided more notice about job losses because it was still negotiating for financial backing and did not want to undermine its position in those discussions.
