A Murfreesboro auto parts plant that had run for more than 50 years shut down without warning last October, and now a federal judge has cleared the way for a class action accusing the company of breaking Tennessee's layoff notice law. Dexter Stamping Company closed its facility on Joe B. Jackson Parkway on October 28, 2025, cutting loose 114 employees in a single day.
The lead plaintiff in the case said he and at least 110 other employees were abruptly terminated at the end of the workday on October 28, 2025, according to WKRN News 2. Per the lawsuit, the facility had been operating as usual with no indication that layoffs were coming until the day the plant actually closed. The suit claims the sudden move left dozens of workers without income or health insurance.
State records show 114 employees were affected by the closure, and Tennessee law requires large companies to issue public notice at least 60 days before shutting down a plant, the station's report notes. The class action, filed in March 2026, alleges that Dexter Stamping Company and its parent, Dynamic Industrial Group, violated Tennessee law by failing to file a timely WARN notice.
Conflicting Accounts of When Notice Was Filed
Exactly when Dexter Stamping notified state officials remains disputed in the available records. The same WKRN report states the company filed a WARN notice with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development on October 30, 2025, while FOX 17 reported that the company notified the agency about the closure on October 29. A separate document obtained from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development states that Dexter Stamping filed an official WARN notice identifying a permanent closure effective October 28, 2025.
FOX 17 further reported that the closed facility sat at 1800 Joe B. Jackson Parkway in Murfreesboro, and that the roughly 114 affected workers were not part of a union and did not have bumping rights that might have let more senior employees shift into other positions. Per the outlet, Dexter Stamping had operated for more than 50 years as part of the automotive industry supply chain, according to the company's own website.
Judge Lets Class Action Proceed
A memorandum was issued October 22, 2026, in the Middle District of Tennessee, and a federal judge allowed the class action against Dexter Stamping Company and Dynamic Industrial Group to move forward, the same WKRN account states. Dynamic Industrial Group is identified in the report as the Delaware-based parent company of Dexter Stamping.
Per the lawsuit, the legal team is asking the court to declare that Dexter Stamping and Dynamic Industrial Group willfully violated the WARN Act, to impose civil penalties, and to award other damages including court costs. The complaint, memorandum and any response from the defendants have not been made public in full, so the allegations remain claims made in litigation rather than findings a court has adjudicated.
What the WARN Act Covers
Federal law gives some insight into how closures like this one get evaluated. Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, employment losses involving multiple groups of workers at a single site within a 90-day period can be treated together as one plant closing or mass layoff, unless an employer can show the job losses were the result of separate and distinct actions not meant to evade the law.
Tennessee's own WARN dashboard, maintained by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, tracks business closures and layoffs reported by employers across the state. The agency notes that employers affecting 50 or more workers are typically required to report the job losses through a WARN filing.
