According to the lawsuit, Bill Heard Enterprises and about two dozen affiliates were required by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act to give at least 60 days advance written notice of the employee terminations and continue paying certain wages, salary, and benefits during the notice period in accordance with federal law.

Edward Kratzel has brought the suit against Bill Heard Enterprises. Kratzel worked at a Las Vegas facility until September 24. He filed his lawsuit in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District in Decatur, Alabama.

Kratzel’s suit seeks WARN Act required wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, holiday pay, vacation pay, pension and 401(k) contributions, and other benefits that would have been paid or covered during the notice period. The lawsuit also seeks attorneys’ fees.

Kratzel’s legal team is attempting to have the suit termed as a class action lawsuit that would include all persons terminated by Bill Heard Enterprises during the company’s march to bankruptcy protection. This includes those terminated at Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, and Texas plants on or about September 24.

Those selling or building Chevy cars are important to, as John McCain would have it, “the fundamentals” of the American economy. Workers need to be treated fairly and if Bill Heard Enterprises is guilty of any wrongdoing, the workers will receive justice.

Bill Heard Enterprises was one of the largest Chevrolet dealers in the United States and in the world. Heard’s dealerships sold more Chevy cars than anyone else. But it closed its 14 dealer outlets this month. The move put 2,700 people out of work, including more than 300 at the flagship Columbus dealership.

So what went wrong? How did the once powerful Bill Heard Enterprises end up the latest victim of economic strife in America?

Many analysts are pointing to Heard’s “Mr. Big Volume” philosophy as one of the key components to the collapse. By accepting all loans applications, regardless of credit history, Heard’s dealerships put many people in cars that wouldn’t normally be able to apply for them. Of course, with the good comes the bad and Heard often felt the crunch from these deals. His high volume, low profit sales organization was destined to fail from the outset, say many, and the events of this week are simply the inexorable results.

Responsible dealerships can thrive in any environment with smart business moves and proper credit researching. Loaning money and expecting payments from people who cannot properly make payments is not a solid foundation on which to build any business, least of all a car business.

Bill Heard’s collapse doubtlessly leaves many lessons behind, the most important of which is also the most obvious.