FAIRMONT – In tandem with a state probe, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has asked officials in Marion County and Fairmont to investigate whether the owner of Fairmont Regional Medical Center broke a federal law when it shut down on March 19.

Curtis M. Johnson, director of communications for Morrisey, said 13 former employees of the shuttered hospital have contacted the attorney general’s office asking him to investigate whether Alecto Healthcare Services Inc. failed to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 when it closed the facility on March 19. Citing losses of more than $19 million, on Feb. 18, FRMC CEO Robert Adcock gave the hospital’s 528 employees letters stating it would shut down in 60 days.

Under the WARN Act, along with warning its employees, employers who conduct a mass layoff are required to also notify “the chief elected official” in which the layoffs are to occur.

read more on this developing story at Times West Virginian