Termination of strike replacements not a WARN Act mass lay-off

A federal district court has granted defendant summary judgment in an interesting WARN act scenario. At the conclusion of a strike the employer returned striking employees to work and terminated 123 replacement workers. The court found the termination and subsequent rehiring of the strikers did not meet the WARN Act definition of mass lay-off. A mass lay off involves a reduction in force. This case did not involve the loss of any positions through a reduction of the actual jobs in issue. The jobs remain, albeit filled by a different worker.