The struggles that led Gap Inc. to cut 1,800 jobs this spring prompted legal action this month from a terminated employee.
According to a class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 8 in California, Ian O’Reilly claims the company violated the WARN Act when it ended his employment with just 15 days’ notice. The national labor law requires employers of 100 or more to notify affected workers 60 days in advance of mass layoffs.
O’Reilly, who spent five-and-a-half years with Gap Inc. as manager of supply chain operations, claims the company said it would give him and other affected employees its standard separation package only “if they released Gap Inc. from all claims of violation of the WARN Act,” according to the complaint, which said he declined the offer.
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The problem, according to the lawsuit, appears to be an issue of location. During the pandemic, O’Reilly got Gap’s blessing to relocate to Montana while still reporting into a headquarters-based manager. He claims the company gave 60 days’ layoff notice to employees who physically showed up in the San Francisco office but less than that to staff who worked remotely. The complaint states that he was notified on April 27 that the mass layoff would terminate his employment effective May 12.
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and relevant “compensatory damages and penalties.” Gap Inc., which just hired a new sourcing leader, declined to comment.
