
This May 2019 file photo shows the Bitwise 41 building prior to its official opening.
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Bitwise Industries formally laid off 367 employees in the Fresno area this week, according to a detailed notice filed with the state whose timeliness is the subject of at least two class-action lawsuits.
Bitwise Industries filed a 17-page letter under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act with the state Employment Development Department on Wednesday. That was the same day that employees across the country received an email about a “permanent job elimination” from Bitwise Industries Interim President Ollen Douglass.
Bitwise’s failure to file such a notice when it furloughed its entire workforce on Memorial Day has led to a pair of class-action lawsuits from employees in federal and superior court. Under the WARN Act, California employers with 100 or more full-time employees must give 60-days notice before executing mass layoffs.
The WARN filing offers a clearer picture of just how many Bitwise employees were impacted by the company’s implosion. Nationwide, that number was 625 employees — not the 900 that has been previously reported. In California, the total is 504 positions.
In Fresno County, that number is 367 workers out of a job, including 34 listed as vice presidents in the company.
Bitwise was previously lauded for its nationwide expansion. In Toledo, Ohio, 18 were impacted by layoffs. In Buffalo, New York, 10 employees were laid off. WARN notices also were filed in Colorado, Illinois and Washington, reported The Fresno Bee.
The City of Fresno hosted a job fair Friday for former Bitwise employees. About 60 employers were present.