Around 175 people are without a job after a Walker County plant abruptly shut its doors on Wednesday of last week. Unique Fabricating, based in Michigan, manufactured OEM parts for the automotive industry.
The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to reports. Employees were not informed of the impending shutdown, which is a violation of the Georgia Warn Act, which requires employers to give a sixty-day notice. The penalty for not meeting that requirement makes the company liable for back pay and benefits for up to sixty-days. The Georgia Department of Labor told a Chattanooga television station that it was one of the worst sudden employee separation situations that they have seen.
Earlier this year, it was announced that General Motors and other auto manufacturers offered a bailout package to Unique Fabricating with the caveat that they secure a buy-out agreement by the end of October.
The company was also the subject of a now-closed labor-rights investigation in Mexico, supported by the U.S. government.
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