The lawsuit by the three former workers in Georgia, Utah and Washington state, also filed in federal court in New York City, contends that the field organizers were fraudulently induced to accept jobs with the Bloomberg campaign based on the promise of guaranteed salaries though November. The ex-field staffers who filed the suit, Alexis Sklair, Nathaniel Brown, and Sterling Rettke, are represented by Peter Romer-Friedman of Gupta Wessler PLLC, and Ilann M. Maazel and David Berman of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP.

Bloomberg on Friday purged all of those workers in six battleground states and guaranteed they would be paid only through the first week of April, with their benefits expiring at the end of that month. The first big round of layoffs across the rest of the country happened earlier this month, with their pay lasting though March 31.

Bloomberg hiring materials described as coming from headquarters promised work with “Team Bloomberg” though November, regardless of whether he became the Democratic nominee, provided that the aides working across the country were willing to relocate. Bloomberg’s team reiterated their plans to follow though — even if only in spirit — after the initial round of layoffs, when top campaign advisers indicated in emails and staff conference calls that they would be given priority on a planned Bloomberg super PAC.

Instead, Bloomberg announced Friday that he had decided to transfer $18 million of his own money to the Democratic National Committee to help presumptive nominee Joe Biden. The campaign invited former field organizers to apply for jobs with the party through its “competitive process,” with no guarantee of a job.

"The Bloomberg campaign’s hiring managers understood that potential applicants for field staff positions like the plaintiffs would be motivated to work for Mike Bloomberg 2020 because of their interest in working on the general election to defeat Donald Trump,” the lawsuit states.

“Accordingly, the Mike Bloomberg 2020 hiring managers expressly promised field staff applicants for Mike Bloomberg 2020 that they would be employed by Mike Bloomberg 2020 to perform work on the primary campaign to elect Michael Bloomberg as the Democratic nominee and on the general election, regardless of whether Bloomberg won the nomination, and stated that the Bloomberg campaign would keep open and financially support its field offices through the general election campaign.”

Bloomberg aides were also told that the field offices in battleground states would remain open. The lawsuit notes that the layoffs come "at a uniquely precarious time in the nation’s history."

Bloomberg spokespeople did not immediately comment on the lawsuit. But in a statement issued Friday, the campaign said the DNC Coordinated Campaign is hiring in the six battleground states. “And we will assist the DNC as much as we are able to, including by providing names of staff and working to help them onboard and grow their program as expediently as possible,” the spokesperson said.

Attorney for one of the group of litigants said in a statement that while "our clients would like to speak publicly about their experiences, they are potentially subject to a confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement with Mike Bloomberg 2020. We respectfully request that the Bloomberg campaign release our clients and the other field staffers from that agreement, even though it may not be enforceable.”

Attorneys not working on the cases said such class action lawsuits are often combined.

Bloomberg field organizers were among the highest compensated in the election cycle, and enjoyed generous health benefits, in addition to $5,000 for relocation costs.
While all of the field organizers are believed to have signed at-will contracts with the campaign, they argue in the lawsuit that they can bring these claims based on evidence that they were induced to sign on because of the longevity promises made to them.

The promise of sustained pay months after a campaign ends is exceedingly rare in politics. But in more than a dozen interviews with POLITICO, the former aides said it was key to their decision to join. Bloomberg quickly amassed a staff of thousands after launching in November, then ended his campaign after a feeble showing on Super Tuesday.

Since news of their dismissal, scores of former Bloomberg staffers have been organizing online in preparation for taking legal action. They’ve established several chat and email groups to share their experiences, with many expressing deep frustrations about losing their pay and health care benefits in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Aside from the action filed Monday, there are believed to be other claims coming from other groups of ex-staffers.

The lawsuit states that Sklair relocated from Charleston, S.C. to Savannah, Ga., to work as a field organizer for Bloomberg. Before joining the Bloomberg campaign, she was an organizer for Cory Booker’s presidential campaign.

At the time that Sklair accepted the job with Bloomberg, the lawsuit states, she had just been offered a position on a state Senate campaign in South Carolina that would have likely lasted throughout the general election. After taking the job with Bloomberg, she declined to move forward.

Brown worked as an organizer for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and moved from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, Utah to work for Bloomberg in January. He said he dropped out of advanced stages of the hiring process for a job as an organizer with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Rettke postponed applying for law school to work on Bloomberg’s bid.