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VIDALIA, La. — Vidalia Mills laid off around 30 percent of its employees last week, according to employees involved in the cuts.

Multiple former employees reported not receiving their paychecks when expected last Friday, saying instead they were let go.

Raymond Maples, a previous employee at Vidalia Mills, said he was laid off with about 40 other workers Friday without explanation. During his employment, Maples said that the textile mill was not operating at full capacity.

He and other employees also had not received a paycheck they expected on Friday, Maples said.

The company CEO Dan Feibus said on a phone call Monday that Vidalia Mills would soon be releasing a statement about the layoffs explaining why they were necessary.

He said the denim manufacturing company has been installing a new line of equipment because it was “starved for capital.” The company had to shut down during the installation of that equipment and therefore “took the workforce down significantly.” He added he expects to rebuild the company workforce back to 150 total jobs with a new pay structure within eight weeks.

Feibus said current and former employees “definitely will” receive pay for the work they performed, adding he would be happy to respond to any employee concerns directly once the statement is released.

This was not the first time Vidalia Mills has had an issue paying employees on time. In September, Feibus cited “internal issues” as the cause of employees not receiving their pay and promised employees a “hardship bonus” to stay on.

“I saw where they’ve told the paper that we were supposed to get a bonus and they haven’t done that either,” Maples said. “As far as the work, it wasn’t that bad. The only bad part was waiting to get paid. That isn’t how you’re supposed to operate a business.”

Now, Maples said he is without a job with no promise to be rehired at Vidalia Mills.

“I don’t have a paycheck and I’d like to be paid,” he said. “As far as being laid off, there’s nothing I can do about it. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Adrian Bonds said he too worked at Vidalia Mills until Friday’s mass layoff and had not been paid for his work.

“I still haven’t been paid and now I probably never will be,” Bonds said on Monday. “This payroll period should’ve been closed a week ago and it’s still open.”

Bonds said he since has tried applying for unemployment but has not been successful in getting Vidalia Mills to sign off on his application.

When Vidalia Mills purchased the former Fruit of the Loom from the Town of Vidalia for $12 million in 2018, the town signed a contract with the company to give back $8 million of the purchase price for capital improvements to the site if they employed 300 people in two years.

According to Feibus, Vidalia Mills had met its end of the bargain by having a $9 million payroll with approximately 150 employees, about half the number of jobs promised with higher salaries.

Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft said the Town hired two attorneys to look into the issue. He added the Town is “not out any money for it.”

“We’re willing to work with the (town) on things,” Feibus said of the contract. “Not to say I’m not worried — I’m always worried — but I like where we’re going as a company.”

This story will be updated when more information is available.