CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch today criticized the owners of a Claremont company for continuing to refuse to honor the rights of 120 workers who were laid off on Christmas.

Attorneys for the company, Customized Structures, Inc., which is owned by Massachusetts-based investment firm Watermill Ventures, today asked a Merrimack County Superior Court judge to transfer state legal action taken against the company to federal court. That request was granted. A hearing in U.S. District Court has not yet been scheduled.

Last week, 120 workers in Claremont were notified they would be laid off effective Christmas Day.

“Watermill Ventures is choosing to hide behind legal maneuvers rather than to honor the rights of their workers. The law says that employees deserve either 60 days notice or 60 days pay,” Gov. Lynch said.

“Watermill and the board of Customized Structures have a moral, ethical and legal obligation to follow the law, yet they continue to attempt to shirk their responsibilities,” Gov. Lynch said. “New Hampshire state government is committed to helping these workers, their families and the community through this difficult time and we will work to try to get the employees everything they are entitled to under the law.”

Last Thursday, the board of Customized Structures, Inc. in Claremont, owned by Watermill Ventures, acted to lay off all of the company’s workers, with most losing their jobs effective Christmas Day. In response, Gov. Lynch directed the Department of Justice to head to court to attempt to protect the rights of the workers and mobilized the state’s Rapid Response team to help the workers and their families.

Companies with more than 100 employees are required to provide 60 days notice, or the equivalent severance pay, under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Gov. Lynch asked the Attorney General to pursue any and all legal action in an effort to try and protect the rights of workers to receive severance pay. Customized Structures, which designs and builds modular homes and buildings, was started in 1984. Watermill Ventures purchased the company in 2003.

Gov. Lynch last week contacted officials at Watermill Ventures to urge them to follow the WARN Act. After conversations with the Governor, Watermill and the Customized board agreed to provide employees with two weeks severance pay, which still does not meet the requirements of the WARN Act.

The Attorney General’s Office filed a petition in Merrimack County Superior Court asking to dissolve Customized Structures, Inc. and have its assets frozen so that the provisions of the WARN Act may be followed. That petition was transferred to federal court this morning at the request of attorneys for the company.

On Friday, Gov. Lynch and members of the state’s Rapid Response Team met with the Customized Structures employees and have begun assessing their needs in order to help them re-enter the workforce. The Rapid Response team includes representatives of the state departments of Employment Security, Labor, Resources and Economic Development, Health and Human Services, the New Hampshire Community College System and NHWorks.

The Department of Employment Security will expedite unemployment benefits for the employees of Customized Structures.