THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507220283
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
More than 40 of the 300 workers who were laid off without back pay when Jonathan Corp. shut down in June have sued the shipyard's owner personally and other affiliated companies.
The workers are seeking back pay for themselves and other workers put out of work by Jonathan. The suit also claims that they are entitled to at least 60 days of wages and benefits under Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, better known as the plant-closing law.
The suit was filed Wednesday in Norfolk federal court.
Jonathan, a Norfolk-based ship-repair firm, shut down June 16, putting about 300 employees on the street. Those workers and others laid off the next week weren't paid for the work they'd already done.
Jonathan had been in bankruptcy since December 1993, but it had gotten a reorganization plan to pay its debts approved in February. That plan, however, was based on overly optimistic projections of availableNavy ship-repair work. It didn't work, and the shipyard ran out of money.
The company is trying to negotiate a voluntary liquidation of its assets with its principal creditor, NationsBank of Virginia.
The workers also will seek their back pay directly from Jonathan through Bankruptcy Court, said their lawyer, Thomas F. Hennessey.
``Under bankruptcy law, wage claims take super priority,'' he said. ``If there's any money at all, it should go to the workers.''
Jonathan's bankruptcy attorney, C. Grigsby Scifres, could not be reached for comment.
The suit names Gary M. Bowers, Jonathan's founder, principal owner and president, as a defendant, as well as Jonathan subsidiaries DALCO Electronics and Erie Marine Enterprises.
Bowers also could not be reached for comment Friday. DALCO is an electronics-repair firm, and Erie Marine is a small shipyard in Erie, Pa., that also shut down June 16.
``The status of Jonathan caused us to be a little creative as to who we sued,'' Hennessey said. ``We are going after those entities and individuals that are not in bankruptcy.''
The suit also named Bowers' family members David G. Bowers, Jonathan's treasurer, and Jeffrey M. Bowers, DALCO's president.
The suit asks the court to order the defendants as employers of the workers to pay their back wages and overtime. It also claims that under the plant-closing law the workers are entitled to either 60 days' notice of a shutdown or 60 days of wages and benefits from the date of the shutdown.
Hennessey said that he's been contacted by more than 70 former Jonathan employees and that he expects more to join the suit.
``It's not a nice thing that was done,'' Hennessey said. ``These are probably people that are trying to protect their assets instead of paying these hard-working people.'' by CNB