1,500 EX-Qimoda employees will have to sue for pay/earned hours

[underpants]

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/B-QIMO28_20090227-220406/218004/
Hundreds of laid-off Qimonda Richmond employees will not be paid their final paychecks or receive wages for vacation days and time off they earned before being dismissed by the memory-chip maker.

To get their money, employees will now have to file claims with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, where Qimonda and parent Qimonda North America filed for Chapter 11 protection Feb. 20.

"Now I'm one of the creditors that has to join in line with everyone else," said Scott Kuhn, who worked at the Henrico County plant for more than seven years.

In a letter arriving in some mailboxes yesterday, Qimonda employees were told that because of bankruptcy law, wages owed prior to Feb. 20 could not be paid.

"That's money that was due to us," said Mike Galgano, who worked in information technology and was laid off Feb. 13.

Galgano, who had a salary of more than $70,000, said he is owed one week's pay and 230 hours, or 28.75 days, worth of vacation and accrued time.

Administrative claims relating to the bankruptcy and operating costs will be paid first, then secured creditors.

After that, employees have priority, up to a cap of $10,950 dollars.

That led to a cash problem for the company, which announced Feb. 3 that it would be closing down and laying off 1,500 people in waves through April. On the first two days, 500 people were let go. By the time of the bankruptcy filing, 790 employees remained.