Former staff at the Birmingham branch of Jamie's Italian are suing amid claims they discovered their jobs had been axed by a note pinned to the door.
More than 50 ex-employees of the nationwide chain - fronted by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver - are taking legal action in a bid to recoup alleged lost wages.
Some of those involved in the claim allege they received no notice that Jamie's Italian had crashed, leaving around 1,000 staff across Britain out of work earlier this year.
And they said they only found out through notices posted on the front doors of restaurants.
A total of 55 staff members from franchises across the country - including Birmingham, Manchester, York, Oxford, Cardiff and Cambridge - are now taking legal action against the celebrity chef.
Law firm Simpson Millar has begun legal action in a bid to secure payouts.
It said there were concerns that Jamie's Italian management had failed to meet legal redundancy consultation obligations to staff. If successful, compensation to the value of 90 days' gross pay could be awarded.
Aneil Balgobin, from the law firm, said: “This has been a very upsetting and distressing time for our clients, many of whom were made redundant with a moment’s notice and who now find themselves struggling financially whilst searching for a new role.
“We have been instructed by more than 50 former employees who are now pursuing a Protective Award, which will see them compensated by up to 90 days' gross pay that can be awarded by an Employment Tribunal for failure by an employer to follow the correct procedure when making redundancies.”
Chef Colin Roberts, 31, from Walsall, previously told BirminghamLive how the company revealed the news to unsuspecting staff.
He said: “I was at home when I got an email at 10.30am telling me there was going to be a conference call in half-an-hour.
“All the staff can dial into a number and take part in the calls.
“Speculation was rife that something was up but when we were told the company had gone into administration and we’d lost our jobs it was a huge shock.
“The restaurant is one of the busiest outside London and it's packed all the time.
Another worker, Josh Singh, 24, started work at the company as door staff in 2013 and worked his way up the ladder to become manager.
Josh, who lives in Birmingham, said: “I am gutted. We received an email from KPMG basically saying: 'I’m afraid you’re sacked, don’t bother coming into work'.
“I don’t blame Jamie at all. I really supported his ideas and vision for good quality food with great nutritional value.
“In the early years it was a destination restaurant but I think, over time, the message got lost.
“The company started giving things away and turned into your average high street restaurant instead of a celebrity restaurant.
“They opened restaurants all over the place and in places where you wouldn’t expect celebrity restaurants to be, like villages and very small towns.
“It’s a real shame this has happened and I don’t think the idea or the vision was at fault. It was the marketing of the business.”
