(Updated with Paramount statement) The soon to be Skydance-controlled Paramount Global thought they were trimming costs with the latest round of layoffs unveiled last month, but the still Shari Redstome ruled company may find itself in a new legal leg-hold trap as a consequence of the cuts.
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To be specific, a potentially class action lawsuit consequence for allegedly not giving Empire State mandated notice to the over 300 employees pink slipped on September 24. This new round of cuts last week came in what has been called “Phase 2” of Paramount’s ongoing efforts to get rid of 15% of its domestic workforce.
Cuts that could prove costly.
“On or about September 24, 2024, defendants Paramount Global CBS Interactive Inc. terminated the employment of Julian Hagins more than 300 other employees who worked at and/or reported to their headquarters in close geographic proximity to headquarters,” says the action filed on October 3 in federal court in New York by now former Paramount Pictures Podcast Post Production Coordinator Hagins. “Defendants provided written notification of the termination, which was effective on or about Sept. 30, 2024.”
Read the potential class action suit against Paramount over last month’s layoffs here
New York State’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act demands companies give staffers 90-days’ notice in the case of a large layoff. If the company, in this case Paramount Global does not give employees the three months heads up, then “the employer shall provide that employee with 60 calendar days of wages and benefits.”
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Which, seeking class certification, is what Hagins is looking for – for himself and others. “A class action is further superior to other available methods for adjudication of this controversy in that joinder of all members is impractical,” today’s suit says. “Furthermore, the amounts at stake for many of the Class Members, while substantial, are not great enough to enable them to maintain separate suits against Defendants.”
Now, with that, If the action were to receive class action certification, and hundreds of ex-employees were to sign on, you can be damn sure this will escalate beyond the cost of the 60 days of pay and benefits.
“These claims are not grounded in any fact,” a Paramount Global spokesperson told Deadline. “Paramount employees entitled to Federal or State WARN notice receive it.”
Moving towards David Ellison and his father Larry’s official $8 billion takeover of the fabled studio and its other businesses, this suit could delay the necessary regulatory approvals in what has already been a convoluted and expensive process.
Right now, co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins have indicated that the Paramount cutbacks are 90% complete. Which means, this isn’t over, and there is likely more grizzle for the courts now Hagins has filed his suit.
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