Paramount strikes with potential class action lawsuit over last month’s layoffs

Paramount strikes with potential class action lawsuit over last month’s layoffs

The soon-to-be Skydance-controlled Paramount Global thought it was cutting costs with the latest round of layoffs announced last month, but the company, still run by Shari Redstome, could find itself in a new legal trap because of the cuts.

More specifically, on September 24th, a possible consequence of a class action lawsuit for alleged failure to comply with the notice period required by the Empire State to the more than 300 Pink employees was canceled. This new round of cuts took place last week in what’s known as “Phase 2” of Paramount’s ongoing effort to get rid of 15% of its domestic workforce.

Cuts that could prove costly.

“On or about September 24, 2024, Defendants Paramount Global CBS Interactive Inc. terminated the employment of more than 300 additional Julian Hagins employees who worked and/or reported to its headquarters in close geographic proximity to the headquarters.” said Hagins, now former Paramount Pictures podcast post-production coordinator, in the lawsuit filed Oct. 3 in federal court in New York. “Defendants provided written notice of termination, effective on or about September 30, 2024.”

Read about the possible class action lawsuit against Paramount over last month’s layoffs here

New York State’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires companies to give employees 90 days’ notice in the event of a major layoff. If the company, in this case Paramount Global, does not provide its employees with the three-month notice period, “the employer should provide that employee with 60 calendar days of wages and benefits.”

That’s what Hagins strives for when he pursues class certification – for himself and others. “A class action lawsuit is superior to other available methods of resolving this controversy in that bringing all members together is impractical,” today’s lawsuit says. “Furthermore, the amounts at stake for many of the class members, while significant, are not large enough to allow them to pursue separate lawsuits against the defendants.”

If the lawsuit is now certified as a class action and joined by hundreds of former employees, you can be assured that this will go beyond the cost of 60 days of salary and benefits.

As a result, Paramount Global did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on Hagins’ lawsuit. If so, this post will be updated.

With David Ellison and his father Larry’s official $8 billion takeover of the storied studio and its other businesses, this lawsuit could delay necessary regulatory approvals in an already complicated and expensive process.

Currently, co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins have indicated that Paramount’s cuts are 90% complete. That means this isn’t over yet and there will likely be even more trouble for the courts after Hagins files his lawsuit.