The closing business and at-will employees

What to do when you are an at-will employee and the business just closes its doors? First, I suggest making speeches about suing the company is not a good idea. Second, get yourself to the Workforce Development office for signing up to get unemployment benefits.

The Richmond Garfield's restaurant closed their doors this week. The employees had no notice of the restaurant's impending demise and so were certainly shocked to find themselves unemployed. So reports the Richmond Palladium-Item.

As some of the comments make clear, Indiana is an at-will employment state. That severely limits any wrongful discharge kind of suit.

On the other hand, that the employer blithely ignored any harm done to its emp0loyees seems pretty clear cut. Not that that lack of concern rises to grounds for a lawsuit. It does seem highly unlikely that Garfield's will want to re-enter the Richmond market, or that many from the Richmond market will frequent Garfield's restaurant's outside of Richmond, or that those reading the Palladium-Item articles outside of the Richmond area will be impressed with the Garfield's franchise system.