Whenever an employer fires a lot of employees and moves its location to a distant town, state or country, there is a possible lawsuit for injuring employees and the original town. The employees have become unemployed or underemployed, have lost some pension benefits that have not yet vested, and are unable to obtain work in the area. The town suffers from higher costs of providing social and welfare services to residents of the town, a loss of tax revenues from declining real estate values and from the departing corporation itself, and various other losses (such as subsidies that might have been given a few years back to induce the corporation to move its business into the town).
The NYS Attorney General may not have the resources to sue every outsourcing employer, and the injured town should have a Town Attorney General ready, willing and able to commence this type of lawsuit. If it is done in time, the town may even be able to prevent the corporation from moving as threatened.
This is one of the most important lawsuits for a Town Attorney General, because the departure of a major employer often devastates the town, and there may well be meritorious claims for damages, based on fraud, misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, breach of contract (express or implied), "clawback" rights under a subsidy agreement with the town or recovery of all sales tax revenues received by a major retailer that did not stay long enough for the town to obtain what it bargained for.