A statewide class action has been filed in Florida against Morningstar Holdings, LLC, the owner and operator of The Bonati Institute. The action is brought on behalf of all former employees of Bonati who were terminated when Bonati suddenly closed its doors on December 19, 2003. The action is brought under the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) and seeks damages in the form of 60 days pay, bonuses, accrued vacation time and holiday pay as well as pension and 401k contributions and health and medical insurance contributions and any medical expenses incurred during the period where coverage should have been provided.

This action arises from what employees claim is an illegal plant closing. The employees claim that under the WARN act, employees must be given 60 days notice prior to the closing of a plant and must be compensated for such 60 days in the event that adequate notice is not given prior to the closing of the plant. Additionally, the employees assert that all benefits such as pension, 401k and health insurance premiums must be continued for those 60 days. According to employees, The Bonati Institute qualifies as a plant under the act as it employed more than 100 full time employees who worked in excess of 4,000 hours weekly. Employees claim that they were given only a few days notice prior to the complete shutdown of Bonati and the termination of all employees.