Former Employees Sue TBW Over Wrongful Termination

By JON PRIOR
August 13, 2009 4:44 PM CST

Twenty-five groups of employees laid off by Taylor, Bean & Whitaker mortgage corporation filed a lawsuit against their former employer for a violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), according to a release from the law firm representing the group.

The layoffs occurred in the wake of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) suspension of the Florida-based company from originating and underwriting new FHA-insured mortgages.

TBW was unavailable for comment. A recording at their office said that all origination and underwriting had been suspended at all branches.

According to a release from Outten & Golden, the firm representing the employees, management reassured employees in a meeting the morning of the suspension that their jobs were safe. After their lunch break, employees were informed that they were terminated.

"The Taylor Bean flip-flop is a dramatic instance of what we call 'pump-and-dump'. Employers get the hopes and spirits of employees up in bad times by telling them not to worry - they won't be fired. The next thing you know, the employer is frog-marching the same employees out the door," says Jack Raisner, a partner in the firm, in the release.

The WARN Act requires that employees receive a 60 day advance written notice that they will be losing their jobs in a mass layoff or shutdown.