
Spokane Valley-based Incyte Diagnostics has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification announcing the permanent layoff of 310 employees, effective August 4. An executive at the pathology practice says, however, the notice is a formality stemming from a recent acquisition agreement.
Earlier this month, Incyte Diagnostics agreed to sell select assets of its clinical and anatomic pathology testing businesses to Burlington, North Carolina-based Labcorp (NYSE: LH).
In addressing the WARN notice, Incyte Diagnostics board chair Dr. Jon Rittenbach says in a statement sent to the Journal, “The Incyte facility and staff addressed by the WARN notice in Spokane are part of a sale agreement with Labcorp. The lab will continue to operate after the sale as usual, and there is a goal for all staff at this location to either continue work with Incyte or Labcorp. The WARN notice is a result of a recent change to Washington law requiring notification for employees transitioning from one entity to another.”
When the acquisition was announced earlier this month, Rittenbach described the transaction with Labcorp as a collaborative relationship and said details hadn’t been finalized yet for how the 300-plus Incyte Diagnostics employees would be affected by the transaction.
“Our plan is to make a landing spot for as many people as we can,” Rittenbach said, adding that there will still be a need for staff to operate the technical services that will be performed at the various locations.
The assets that Labcorp is acquiring involve multiple same-day testing labs and some technical assets of Incyte Diagnostics’ anatomic pathology business, including its two labs in Spokane Valley and its patient service center locations in North Spokane, Deer Park, Post Falls, Hayden, and elsewhere. The pending acquisition also includes Incyte's labs in Tukwila, Washington; Richland, Washington; and Missoula, Montana.
Rittenbach declined to disclose the terms of the transaction, which is expected to be completed later this year.
The WARN notice was received by the Washington state Employment Security Department on May 22.