Judges unsure if COVID is 'natural disaster' under layoff notice law - Reuters.com
Moviegoers shop at concessions on the reopening day of the TCL Chinese theatre during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
- Appeals court focused on whether pandemic was truly "natural"
- Law requires advanced notice of layoffs except after natural disasters
- Workers sued oil drilling company over layoffs at beginning of pandemic
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(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court panel on Tuesday grappled with whether the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered a "natural disaster" that would exempt employers from a law requiring advanced notice of layoffs, since the virus' origins are still unknown.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans heard oral arguments in a proposed class action by former employees of U.S. Well Services Inc claiming the drilling services company unlawfully laid off many of its employees without notice at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
The case is among the first involving COVID-related claims under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act to reach a federal appeals court. The law requires 60 days notice of mass layoffs, but exempts workforce reductions caused by natural disasters or unforeseen business circumstances.
The 5th Circuit judges repeatedly pressed lawyers for both sides on whether U.S. Well Services, which is backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has to prove that COVID-19 was "natural" in order to qualify for the natural disaster exception. A federal judge in Texas last year said it was unclear whether the exception applied and denied summary judgment to both sides, prompting an appeal by the plaintiffs.
COVID-19's origins are uncertain, Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod said, and some theories posit that the virus leaked out of a lab where it was created, calling into question whether it was truly a natural disaster.
Circuit Judge Edith Brown Clement asked whether the WARN Act exemption would apply to the fallout from an atomic bomb, which is caused by man and would undoubtedly lead to job losses.
David Korn of Phelps Dunbar, who represents U.S. Well Services, said the pandemic was a natural disaster under the most commonly understood meaning of the term. Even if the virus was manmade, he said, it was manufactured from elements found in nature, much like an atomic bomb.
"I don't know ultimately how far down deep we have to dig into what 'natural' really means at the end of the day," Korn said. "I think the focus is on the 'disaster' part of it."
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Gabriel Assaad of McDonald Worley, said the pandemic was not the kind of geological or weather-related disaster that Congress meant to exempt from the WARN Act, such as hurricanes or earthquakes that can swiftly destroy worksites.
The case is Easom v. U.S. Well Services Inc, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-20202.
For the plaintiffs: Gabriel Assaad of McDonald Worley
For U.S. Well Services: David Korn of Phelps Dunbar
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source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/judges-unsure-if-covid-is-natural-disaster-under-layoff-notice-law-2022-04-05/
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