Former Vishay Sprague workers to share $2.8 million settlement

SANFORD – More than 450 former Vishay Sprague workers will share a $2.8 million severance pay settlement under a consent decree filed Thursday in York County Superior Court.

Under the decree, lump sum payments are expected to be released to former workers within a few weeks.

The settlement is on top of $1.7 million the company already has paid and amounts to more than 85 percent of the severance workers were entitled to under state law, said Assistant Attorney General Gwendolyn Thomas.

“The Department of Labor and the Attorney General’s Office worked very hard on this,” she said. “We stuck to our guns.”

The settlement requires a judge’s approval and must be accepted by some workers who have sued the company. It was reached after nearly a year’s worth of talks and two attempts by area lawmakers to help laid-off workers.

The severance pay issue hinged on whether the company’s series of layoffs fell within the scope of Maine law.

The law requires companies with 100 or more employees that shut down or move their operations to pay workers with at least three years seniority one week of severance for each year of service.

Vishay Sprague, a Pennsylvania-based electronic components manufacturer, is moving its operations to Israel. The firm announced in February 2001 that it could lay off 320 workers, or more than a third of its Sanford work force.

Three months later, it announced it would lay off 463 of the remaining 563 workers and shut down the manufacturing operation.

It remains to be seen whether 45 workers who sued the company, claiming the company was denying their full severance pay, will agree to the final settlement.

They plan to discuss the settlement with their attorney, Jeff Young. Bureau of Labor Standards director Michael Frett said he hoped former employees would see the merits of the settlement.