Projo Biz Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Former employees of The Colibri Group, the famed East Providence jewelry maker that abruptly shut down in January, crowded into a Providence courtroom today to demand pay and medical insurance.

Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein is overseeing the sale of Colibri's assets to pay back its lenders, including HSBC Bank and Sovereign Bank, each owed about $14 million.

But former Colibri workers say the company, which closed its doors without notifying employees, should first be paid for 60 days of work and receive two months of health care coverage. The former workers say Colibri violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as the WARN Act, which compels companies with at least 100 employees to provide a minimum of 60 days' notice before closing a plant.

"They threw us on the street like animals," Emilio Blanco, 45, said today at court. "It was a very hard day for us."

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