YPSILANTI, MI - Cinemark closed its Ypsilanti theater and laid off the location’s 70-plus employees as part of a statewide shuttering of theaters due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ann Arbor 20 IMAX, 4100 Carpenter Road, is temporarily closed alongside the company’s other Michigan theaters in Flint and Taylor, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification. Cinemark only lists theaters in the three cities on its Michigan location page.

Cinemark has shut down several locations throughout the country, but has repeatedly stated on social media the shutdowns are temporary until the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.

“The closure of Cinemark theatres is temporary and a direct result of COVID-19 health and safety regulations. We look forward to reopening when it is safe to do so,” the company said on Twitter Wednesday, April 8.

Seventy-three employees at the Ypsilanti location were permanently let go and paid through March 26, including assistant managers, box office attendants, ushers, concession workers and more, the notice said. Approximately 162 employees were laid off between the state’s three theaters.

The decision came in the weeks after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer temporarily closed non-essential businesses across the state to mitigate COVID-19 spread, wrote Sid Srivastava, Cinemark’s senior vice president and chief human resources officer.

The notice was written on March 26, the same day the termination of pay started. Michigan’s WARN Act requires at least 60 days of notice “in advance of covered business closings and covered mass layoffs,” according to Michigan.gov. However, there is an exemption for unforeseen business circumstances and natural disasters, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“This notice is being given as soon as possible, but due to the rapidly developing and changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, additional notice was not feasible,” Srivastava wrote in the notice, adding that “unforeseen circumstances” prompted the “regrettable” decision to layoff employees.

The locations are not union facilities, he wrote, so there are no bumping rights for employees, or obligation to fill more senior roles with less senior employees in accordance with the WARN act.

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