AstraZeneca to shell out 12M Pounds in severance dispute with workers at former England plant

When AstraZeneca sold its Avlon, England plant to CDMO Avara in 2016, it was touted as a lifeline for the drugmakers 210 on-site employees who faced termination. Three years later, with the plant back on life support, AstraZeneca will have to pony up after those former employees said the British drugmaker didnt meet its contractual obligations. AstraZeneca will earmark £12 million to settle workers’ claims that the company refused to pay severance despite an agreement to honor “enhanced redundancy rights” if the plant closed within three-and-a-half years of the initial sale, according to the Financial Times. AstraZeneca said employees had been guaranteed severance pay in the event of a closure but that the drugmaker was not liable to cover that expense, FT said. AstraZeneca decided to set aside the funds after the bid deadline for the plant passed last week and redundancy costs for former employees had not materialized, according to company spokeswoman Michele Meixell. "AstraZeneca remained closely involved in helping secure a future for the Avlon site following the sale to Avara, which was made in good faith in 2016," Meixell said in a statement. "We have been engaged with the receivers since the company fell into administration." The skirmish between the Avlon workers and AstraZeneca follows Norman, Oklahoma-based Avara’s decision to put the troubled plant under bankruptcy earlier this year. In February, Avara, which manufactures on contract for AstraZeneca, said the loss of a major customer put the plant’s operations under strain, threatening the jobs of 270 employees on site.