Rufino Pena, German Alvarado, Rosa Ayala v. American Meat Packing Corporation

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

The American Meat Packing Corporation (“AMPAC”) closed its Chicago facility on November 16, 2001 without giving its 350 employees prior notice of the plant closing. The employees filed a class action suit against AMPAC for violations of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN Act”). At issue was whether AMPAC could have reasonably foreseen the plant shutdown so as to provide the employees prior notice. The dis trict court found for AMPAC on summary judgment. Plaintiffs appeal; we reverse.

I. Background

AMPAC acquired its Chicago plant in 1998. Daniel…