Ousted employees of The Messenger website filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in New York accusing the owners of the site for violating labor laws regarding layoff notifications, Politico reports. Jimmy Finkelstein, The Messenger’s founder who was formerly from The Hill, announced the shutdown to the staff on Wednesday, after it had already been reported by the New York Times.
The lawsuit alleges Finkelstein and the ownership group failed to provide mandatory information regarding things like severance pay and benefits when he essentially pulled the plug on the servers and completely shut down the business’s operations. Most of the 300 former employees are expected to join the suit.