United Furniture Industries, Inc. (UFI) sacked its employees in the middle of the night just before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Between late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, the massive U.S. furniture company, based in Tupelo, Mississippi, sent two mass letters via text message and email to its nearly 2,700 employees across its California, Mississippi, and North Carolina factories, informing them of their terminations.
The first letter was sent out at 11:49 p.m. on Monday, saying, We ask that all employees not report to their work locations tomorrow, November 22, 2022.”
The second letter, which provided additional information and was sent out at 12:42 a.m. on Tuesday, stated:
We regret to inform you that due to unforeseen business circumstances the Company has been forced to make the difficult decision to terminate the employment of all its employees, effective immediately, on November 21, 2022, with the exception of over-the-road drivers that are out on delivery. Your layoff from the Company is expected to be permanent and all benefits will be terminated immediately without provision of COBRA.
After completing their current deliveries, UFI instructed that drivers not make any more deliveries and return any equipment, merchandise, or delivery paperwork.
Although the causes for the mass layoffs are unknown, economic analysts believe that rising gas costs, inflation, and the Ukraine war are potential contributors.
Former Standard Furniture President Todd Evans was named CEO in June after the business removed its CEO, CFO, and executive vice president of sales. At the same time, the corporation reorganized its sales department.
One month later, UFI let off nearly 270 employees at its Winston-Salem and High Point, North Carolina, plants and 220 at its Amory, Mississippi, factory.
The mass layoffs have spurred one former employee who has worked for UFI for eight years to initiate a class-action lawsuit against the corporation. She claims the corporation violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act by failing to provide employees with at least 60 days’ notice of their terminations.
“It is not fair to the laborers who seriously worked so hard to be blindsided like this,” the former employee said. “It is not fair to the mom who just had a baby to wonder if she even has health insurance to cover it. It is not fair to the cancer patient in the midst of chemo about how to pay for her treatments.”
Employees were permitted to reclaim their items on Tuesday, according to UFI.