Coffee chain Foxtrot has had a rough week. Its parent company, Outfox Hospitality, announced plans to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which resulted in Foxtrot closing all 33 of its stores located in Texas, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and the news of the closures is going viral in an unexpected way.
In a new TikTok, two Foxtrot employees, who filmed themselves on the clock at the coffee shop, claimed that they were given a two-hour notice that their store was shutting down, leaving them baffled and confused on how to usher the store’s customers out the door.
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“So we just found out our store’s closing today at 12,” said one of the employees in the video. “And by closing, I mean the entire chain shutting down. I have three more hours on my shift. Like, when do I take my 30? There are all these people here right now. Like, what do we tell them?”
The video later shows one of the employees preparing the last latte at the store, and they later reveal that they had to kick all of the customers out of the establishment.
@sadkiwigirl found out 2 hours before that our company was closing nationwide!!! anyone know how to file for unemployment??? if you're able to help out here's my venmo: julia-harlos 🫶🏻❤️ #fyp #capitalism #barista #baristalife #foxtrotmarket
♬ Frolic (Theme from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" TV Show) - Luciano Michelini
Other Foxtrot employees at different store locations also claimed to have shared a similar experience on their last day.
"I didn't even get a call from a manager," said former Foxtrot employee Monica Perez in an interview with CBS News. "I showed up like a regular day."
The store closures come after Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market merged in late 2023. Two of Dom’s Kitchen & Market stores were also a casualty of Outfox Hospitality’s bankruptcy as they were forced to close shop.
Foxtrot later released a statement on Instagram addressing the store closures saying that it wasn’t an easy decision to make.
“The decision has not been made lightly, and we understand the impact that it will have on you, our loyal customers, as well as our dedicated team members,” wrote the company in the statement. “... We understand that this news may come as a shock, and we apologize for any inconvenience it may cause.”
It appears that the Outfox Hospitality’s decision to hastily shut down all of its Foxtrot stores and two of its Dom’s Kitchen & Market stores, resulting in its employees being left without jobs, has come with consequences. Foxtrot, Outfox Hospitality and Dom’s Kitchen & Market are now facing a class-action lawsuit, which was filed on April 24, on the behalf of former employees who were immediately laid off as a result of the store closures.
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff, former Foxtrot employee Jamil Moore, “first learned of his termination during his shift and did not receive any prior notice from his employer in any way.”
It also claims that by doing this, the company violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), which is a labor law that requires a company to give at least a 60 days written notice of planned closings and mass layoffs.
Foxtrot is also being accused in the lawsuit of failing to pay its laid off employees severance, specifically, “unpaid wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday pay, accrued vacation pay, accrued PTO, pension and 401(k) contributions, and other benefits,” which the lawsuit claims “should have been paid during the 60 days after notice of termination under WARN.”
The suit seeks “damages and any other relief” and a jury trial.
All legal actions against the debtor, however, are subject to an automatic stay during a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding.
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