Barneys New York Update: Employees Seek Help From Bankruptcy Court Over Severance Pay

Following its August 2019 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Barneys New York sold its assets to Authentic Brands Group in a $271 million deal. While the sale commenced last year, the employees at Barneys are reportedly uncertain of their fate as liquidation sales get underway at the stores earmarked for closure.

A group of both sales associates and longtime workers for the retailer voiced their concerns to the federal bankruptcy on Monday, claiming they have no information about when their employment will end or if they will be guaranteed pensions, severance, or payouts of their unused benefits, WWD reported.

In a letter to the bankruptcy court obtained by the news outlet, the employees said, “We believe it is totally unreasonable that we have not been given any idea of what we are getting paid on closing. We are assuming by law that we are entitled to these above mentioned benefits, but we are not lawyers, so do not know for sure.”

Back in November, Barneys laid off 800 workers, many of which did not receive severance or vacation pay for their time worked with the company, the New York Post reported. Employees that were given severance payouts were reportedly limited to one week’s pay for every two years worked at the retailer, capped at five weeks.

The layoffs came as Barneys said it would close its Chicago, Las Vegas, and Seattle stores as well as five smaller concept stores, and seven Barneys Warehouse locations. Authentic Brands Group said it would keep Barneys Madison Avenue store open over the next year.

Authentic Brands Group said it is not a part of the winddown at the Barneys stores that are slatted to close.