Fortunoff files notice of layoffs with state

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Fortunoff files notice of layoffs with state

February 13, 2009

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Bankrupt retailer Fortunoff Fine Jewelry and Silverware LLC has filed notice with the New York State Department of Labor to conduct hundreds of layoffs and close stores.

Albany, N.Y.--Bankrupt retailer Fortunoff Fine Jewelry and Silverware LLC gave New York state notice of its plans to conduct hundreds of layoffs, paperwork filed earlier this week with the New York State Department of Labor shows.

In a notice filed with the state, as required under the state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, Fortunoff says it will be laying off 181 employees and cites its White Plains, N.Y., store as one that will close.

According to the notice, the layoffs are slated to begin today and continue for 14 days.

In addition, the fine-jewelry and housewares retailer has filed a WARN notice regarding 378 employees that cites its headquarters facility in Uniondale, N.Y. It also names stores in Westbury and Garden City as being affected by layoffs.

Newsday reported earlier this week that Fortunoff has given employees at its Westbury store notice that it might close. So far, its 57th Street store in Manhattan is the only Fortunoff location officially listed as closed on the company's Web site. The company did not respond to National Jeweler's request for comment regarding potential store closings.

The state Department of Labor's WARN Act requires private employers with at least 50 full-time employees to give workers, unions and state and local authorities 90-day advance notice of a mass layoff, plant closing or relocation occurring on or after Feb. 1, 2009, the date on which the act went into effect.

Calls to the state Department of Labor regarding how the WARN Act applies in the case of Fortunoff, and whether or not the retailer might be given an exception that would allow it to give shorter notice, went unreturned.

Fortunoff filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, citing a severe lack of liquidity magnified by the greater macroeconomic situation. At the time of the filing, the retailer employed 1,780 workers at 20 stores in New York, New Jersey Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

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