The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va. is poised to decide whether Fluor Corp. workers terminated when construction on the $9-billion VC Summer nuclear power plant project was abandoned are owed 60 days’ pay and benefits—a ruling that would have “far-reaching and destabilizing effect” on the construction industry if it favors the payout, claimed the Associated Builders and Contractors in a case brief filed.
As part of a class action lawsuit filed in 2017, the workers argue that they are due reimbursement under the federal Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which requires that those terminated get 60 days notice before being laid off. About 5,000 workers were terminated at the project on July 31, 2017, when it was abandoned.