BECKLEY (AP) — A former employee of a West Virginia hardwood producer says the company did not give proper notice before ordering mass layoffs and shutting down last month, according to a federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed Friday by James Beane of Princeton against Allegheny Wood Products seeks class-action status, unspecified damages and civil penalties.

Beane said he and other company workers at multiple locations were terminated effectively immediately on Feb. 23.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also known as WARN, which requires companies to provide 60 days’ notice if they have at least 100 full-time workers. It also alleges violations of state wage payment law.

An official for the state’s unemployment agency told lawmakers last month that about 900 workers were affected.

A company official did not return a telephone message seeking comment.

Allegheny Wood Products operated a saw mill in Randolph County, located near Norton, off the Buckhannon Pike. The Randolph facility joined AWP mills in Bruceton Mills, Kingwood, Moorefield and Petersburg in closing their doors Feb. 23.

Last year, reports circulated that AWP was in talks with potential investors in an effort to keep the company open.

In 1973, John and Patricia Crites founded Allegheny Wood Products Inc. with a single sawmill located in Riverton. In the following decades, the company grew to be one of the largest producers of Eastern U.S. hardwoods, and eventually one of the largest hardwood lumber companies in the world, with exports entailing 30 countries worldwide.

In May 2023, Allegheny Wood Products withdrew its application for an air quality permit to build a log fumigation facility in Hardy County, which residents opposed.

The permit would have allowed the company to emit up to 9.55 tons per year of a neurotoxic gas which the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said can cause nausea, respiratory irritation and even death.

The Allegheny Wood Products closures came just a week after the surprise announcement that the Cleveland-Cliffs in Weirton will be shutting down within two months, with a loss of 900 jobs.