Henry, et al. v. Maytag, et al.
Published: Sep. 23, 1995 | Result Date: Aug. 3, 1995 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 92C417 – $16,500,000
Judge
Court
Jefferson Circuit (West Virginia)
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Donald M. Adams Jr.
(technical)
Kathleen Sampeck
(technical)
Joseph Jurand
(medical)
Defendant
Robert L. Simmons
(medical)
Michael Brookshire
(technical)
Facts
Dixie-Narco was a commercial business facility located in Ranson, West Virginia since the mid 50's. In 1986 Defendant Maytag bought the factory, which employed approximately 1,200 of the less-than-3,000 town population. The Ranson plant was one of two plants owned by Maytag; the other is located in Williston, South Carolina. Originally, the Admiral Corporation owned the Williston plant and produced freezers at same freezers were phased out; and the factory was gutted and retooled for manufacture of Coca-Cola dispensing machines. Defendant allegedly reassured the townspeople of that they had no plans closing either plant; they issued an employee handbook to the Plaintiff workforce, promising continued employment and progressive discipline, thus modifying the at-will employment relationship to a for-cause relationship. Repeated oral promises were made to the Plaintiff employees that their jobs were secure. In October of 1989, Defendant initiated the first of two major layoffs at the Ranson plant; the second took place in October of 1990. In May of 1991, Maytag announced their decision to close Dixie-Narco; and in December of that year, they completed the closure, taking only a few (less than 30) management employees to the Williston plant.
Settlement Discussions
Plaintiffs contend their $3,000,000 demand in the Fall of 1994 was rejected and Defendant made no offers prior to this result.
Damages
Approximately $200,000,000 in lost wages and benefits.
Other Information
Although case identification is normally kept confidential, we have made an exception here, due to high-media coverage of this case. Defendant's tender of the settlement is not an admittance of liability.
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