Former Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market Employee Files Lawsuit After Abrupt Company Shutdown
Trendy grocery and restaurant-style establishment, Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market is facing a class action lawsuit after workers say the company violated federal and state employee laws in a mass layoff that left all employees out of a job, with just a couple hours of notice.
The class action lawsuit was filed Wednesday by former worker Jamil Ladell Moore. Moore was one of over 1,000 employees who were given just a two-hour notice about their terminations. The lawsuit was filed in the Northeast Illinois District of the United States District Court, in the state where the company is based. The federal component of the lawsuit will also cover employees in Washington DC. If certified as a class action lawsuit, the complaint will cover all former Foxtrot and Dom’s employees.
The mass layoff came after the trendy grocery chain abruptly closed all its locations with just hours of notice to employees and customers. One location had a black sheet of paper taped to the door that read in scratchy handwriting, “Foxtrot Closed Forever (Not a Joke…) $180,000,000 in the hole.”
Moore argues in the lawsuit that the sudden closure was a direct violation of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Under the act, employers that have more than 100 employees are required to give a written 60-day notice to employees before a mass layoff or before shutting down operations. Likewise, the Illinois WARN Act (IWARN) puts similar obligations on employers in the state with 75 or more full-time employees.
Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market announced they were merging under a new entity, Outfox Hospitality, in late November 2023. During the merger, Foxtrot shared that it had raised over $194 million in venture capital funding. Previously, $100 million was raised in January 2022 in an effort to open 50 more stores throughout the nation over the next two years.
Those efforts fell short after the abrupt announcement of total closure. Moore’s attorney, Syed Hussain of Hussain LLC, called out the company's recent investment funding, stating, “We know they had $190 million in private equity money and my question is where is that money? It doesn’t appear to me that money was just raised and the company ran out of money and was unable to operate stores that seemed successful.”
Late Tuesday morning, social media was in full force reporting that employees and customers in Illinois, Texas, and Washington DC were being told to leave the stores as they were officially shutting down. All locations abruptly locked their doors and posted signs of closure.
Attorney Hussain shared with reporters that the company's actions were “abhorrent.” Hussain said that employers, “were basically told ‘you guys are done, go home’ that’s the end of that.”
After shutting its doors early Tuesday, Outfox Hospitality issued a statement later in the day that explained, "It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you of a difficult decision we have had to make. After much consideration and evaluation, we regret to announce that Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market will be closing their doors starting on April 23, 2024." The statement added that "This decision has not been made lightly, and we understand the impact it will have on you, our loyal customers, as well as our dedicated team members."
The lawsuit is seeking “unpaid wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday pay, accrued vacation pay, accrued PTO, pension and 401(k) contributions, and other benefits which should have been paid during the 60 days after notice of termination under IWARN.” The lawsuit is also seeking civil penalties under IWARN, attorneys’ fees, and other costs.
