The operator of the famous Signature Room near the top of the former John Hancock Center failed to give workers adequate notice of their job losses before abruptly closing, Chicago’s hospitality union said Monday in a federal lawsuit.
Unite Here Local 1, representing 132 workers at the Signature Room and its lounge, said the employer failed to give 60 days’ notice of a closing or mass layoff, violating state law. The union filed the suit against Infusion Management Group, the restaurant’s operator.
The complaint alleges workers were notified of the closure in an email sent at 6 a.m. Thursday, the day the restaurant and lounge closed their doors.
Mothers Day brunch at the Signature Room in 1999.
Sun-Times file
It asks that the workers receive pay, health insurance coverage and other benefits for 60 days under the state’s Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as the WARN Act.
“We didn’t know anything until the day that it closed,” said Carlos Aguinaga, a cook with 25 years at the Signature Room. “Everything had been very normal.”
Aguinaga, who lives near Midway Airport, said, “We had been like a family there. Many of us worked there a very long time.” He spoke in Spanish, with union spokesperson Sarah Lyons translating.
Unite Here said the majority of Signature Room workers are people of color. A third of them had more than 15 years on the job, and eight celebrated 30-year work anniversaries during the summer, the union said.
Visitors were greeted with a note on the door Thursday from Infusion principals Rick Roman and Nick Pynkis. It expressed regrets for the shutdown after more than 30 years of sky-high, high-end dining and drinking at 875 N. Michigan Ave. The former Hancock building is now known simply by its address.
A view in 1973 of a restaurant that preceded the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Center.
Sun-Times file photo
The Signature Room was on the 95th floor, and the lounge was on the 96th.
In their notice, Roman and Pynkis said, “Unfortunately, after the closure of our city and restaurant due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been faced with severe economic hardship and the challenges have been greater than anticipated. From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank you for your support over the years.”
They could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lyons said the union also was filing a complaint with the state Labor Department. A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity confirmed that it had received no WARN Act notice from the restaurant.
“This restaurant is iconic, not just for its views, but because of the hardworking staff, many of whom dedicated decades of their lives to this place,” said Local 1 President Karen Kent. “For the Signature Room operator to jettison these workers overnight is both immoral and illegal.”
Illinois’ WARN Act applies to employers with at least 75 full-time workers. It requires a 60-day layoff notice when a single work site closes and at least 25 full-time workers are cut, provided they constitute at least a third of the staff at the location. It also applies to any layoff of 250 or more full-time workers.
