Fresno leaders claim Bitwise violated WARN Act with company-wide furloughs
The mayor's office said they've tried to reach out several times to the CEOs of Bitwise but have not been able to make contact.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- June first means bills are due, but for employees impacted by the Bitwise furloughs, they may start stacking up.
In a letter sent to employees earlier this week, the company warned last week's paycheck might bounce.
The mayor's office said Bitwise violated California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining or WARN Act by not giving 60-day notice that a furlough was coming.
"I firmly believe Jake Soberal and Bitwise have robbed this city of that time, that critical time," said Mike Karbassi, Fresno City Council.
Now, city and state leaders are working to find resources, starting with a resource fair for Bitwise employees on June 9th.
State leaders like Assemblyman Jim Patterson are also stepping in to offer assistance with unemployment.
"If you've already filed, that's great," said Patterson. "Let us make sure you get paid sooner, not later. Don't wait for EDD to respond to you. Don't try to call them. Call my office. We'll get to work on it for you right away."
The furloughs have brought other financial issues with the company to light. Bitwise owes the City of Fresno business taxes dating back to September 2021.
"There was a conscious effort to not be aggressive and delinquencies during the pandemic," said White. "So, for a $20,000 amount for the Bitwise consulting, you know, obviously that would have to be a discussion if we wanted to use resources to try and attempt to collect that."
The city said they issued several late notices for those taxes with the latest going out in December 2022.
Despite Bitwise being more than a year late on taxes, the city still awarded the company a $1 million grant to establish a Digital Empowerment Program in October 2022.
When Action News asked how that was allowed to happen, the city manager conceded it was an issue they need to address.
"So we need to make sure that we have a comprehensive check-off system to make sure that everybody's before the contract is signed," said White. "That's part of the checklist that people have a current business tax certificate. "
Other cities across California and the U.S. are also feeling the pain of the sudden furloughs.
Bitwise offices in Merced and Bakersfield stood quiet on Thursday.
In Toledo, Ohio, city officials were getting ready for a ribbon-cutting after Bitwise vowed to renovate a building and bring hundreds of jobs to the city.
In Buffalo, New York sits a building that was supposed to house Bitwise will now become residential space, according to the property owner.
"It's not that I hate the company, I hate what they did to us," said Bitwise Buffalo employee Andre Nunn.
Employees of Bitwise Buffalo were blindsided by the furlough.
"Now I've got to go for assistance. Now I have to apply for food stamps because now, smack dab in the middle, my bank account's got $42 in it," said Monica McCutcheon, also a Bitwise Buffalo employee.
The two say Bitwise owes each of them at least $5,000 in back pay and 401K contributions.
The mayor's office in Fresno said they've tried to reach out several times to the CEOs of Bitwise but have not been able to make contact.
ABC30 has also tried to reach them both by phone and by going to their offices and homes but has had no response.
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