Former employees protest outside Foxtrot Commissary on West Side after sudden shutdown

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The closing of Dom's and Foxtrot markets across Chicago shocked customers and employees who are now without a job.

The Foxtrot Commissary on the West Side employed about 50 people who helped produce and deliver products for the company. They staged a protest Friday, saying they were never given proper notice.

It was a roaring plea from former employees of Foxtrot, who lost their jobs this week as the company abruptly shut down all of its stores in Chicago.

Employees said they got to work on Tuesday and were quickly told to leave.

"They actually just put us all into the lunchroom and said we're finished... we're closing the company... all the stores, so just go home," said Juan Melendez former assembler at Foxtrot Commissary.

Melendez was hired just two months ago, and said he's now desperate to find work.

"It is very difficult because right now," Melendez said. "I'm living paycheck to paycheck basically. Rents coming soon. I have bills to pay."

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Those struggles are why the workers rallied Friday outside the commissary, and they are expecting to soon join others in filing a lawsuit against the company.

"Workers are learning about their rights. They will not be outboxed," Arise Chicago organizer Jose Uribe said. "They are not giving up, and they are here to ask what is owed to them."

A proposed class-action lawsuit was just filed this week on behalf of one former employee, arguing that the WARN Act was violated. The law requires companies of a certain size to give a 60-day notice of mass layoffs.

"At the outset, it seems like a slam dunk, but there's a lot more we're gonna have to dig into," lawyer Syed Haseeb Hussain said. "We have a lot to unpack here."

The owners of Foxtrot and Dom's posted the following statement on their website about the closing:

"We explored many avenues to continue the business but found no viable option despite good faith and exhaustive efforts," the statement read in part.

A similar situation recently happened with the Signature Room in the former John Hancock Center, which closed abruptly in September. A federal judge awarded those employees with $1.5 million in back pay, saying the employer failed to give a 60-day notice of shutting down.