Former autoworkers at Calif. Nummi plant sue Toyota, factory claiming severance discrimination

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-South Coast Today

By BROOKE DONALD

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Former employees of a shuttered California auto plant sued the factory and Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday, claiming they were denied fair severance packages because injuries kept them off the job in the months leading to the facility's closure.

The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, seeks a revised severance agreement, restitution, lost compensation, other employee benefits and monetary damages.

The lawsuit also seeks class-action status. Lawyers claim that about 300 of the 4,700 employees who lost their jobs when the Fremont-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or Nummi, closed April 1 may be affected.

Many of the laid-off employees, who assembled Toyota cars and trucks, received a minimum union-negotiated payout of $21,175 each. Employees who worked continuously in the six months before the plant's closure also received enhancements based on years of service and other factors.


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