Lawsuit claims Heard violated labor laws

A lawsuit filed against Bill Heard Enterprises claims the company with the largest chain of Chevrolet dealerships in the country violated federal labor law when it fired thousands of employees last month. Former employee Edward Kratzel, who worked at a Bill Heard dealership in Las Vegas, filed the suit Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in northern Alabama. Kratzel was one of more than 2,000 employees who lost his job when the Columbus, Ga.-based company closed all of its remaining dealerships on September 24th. The suit against Bill Heard and about two dozen affiliated companies says the companies violated the workers' rights under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Kratzel's lawyers are seeking class action status for the suit.

(Associated Press)

Bill Heard closures reinforce Dep't of Labor stats

Yesterday’s closure by Bill Heard Chevrolet is a bracing indicator of economic woes statewide.

The Georgian former employees of the nearly 90-year-old company join the latest state-Department of Labor figures:

• In August, Georgia’s six-point-three percent unemployment rate was two-tenths of a percent above national average.
• August unemployment rates of ten percent or higher were listed in ten counties.
• Overall, August figures say that 310, 683 Georgians are out of work.

But, says Bruce Kaufman, an economics professor at Georgia State University who specializes in industrial relations and economics, it’s worth keeping some perspective:

“One could over-read the significance [of the Bill Heard closure], because to some degree these are just normal events.

"But the financial turmoil, high interest-rates and tight credit conditions push the most marginal and troubled companies over the cliff – so these conditions could well be the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of Bill Heard, and we have to wonder how many dominoes are going to be following them.”

A few of those dominoes are in metro Atlanta: the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that three major homebuilders with a cumulative $27 million dollars in debts today filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

But, Kaufman says, while cautioning not to be blasé, we’re not at the monetary brink:

"We don’t want to look at this and say, we’re at the start of the next depression, but we do want to look at this and say, if things get worse, we’re going to see bigger ripple effects like Bill Heard.”

In the midst of the poor economics prospects, Governor Sonny Perdue this weekend heads out to Spain for a two-week economic mission.

Perdue says he’s hopes to come back with jobs and investments.

Click here for more GPB News on the economy.

Bill Heard to close all dealerships

With a struggling economy and an inventory heavy with trucks and SUV’s, the largest Chevrolet dealership chain in the country has announced closure of all its locations.

Bill Heard Enterprises will close its remaining 13 nationwide dealerships--five locations in Georgia, along with those in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Nevada. Another dealership in Arizona closed September 12th.

The Columbus, Georgia based company says the mix of rising gas prices, a slowdown in car sales and the banking crisis created an atmosphere where its resources could not keep pace. Last month, GMAC Financial Services pulled credit for new inventory at some of the Bill Heard dealers.

The company has also been beset by legal troubles. The Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs has a lawsuit against Bill Heard, charging it with a 16-year pattern of deceptive sales practices. It’s not known how the closures will affect the state lawsuit.

The closing of Bill Heard dealers will affect about 27-hundred employees.