Binder & Binder to lay off 100 at its Hauppauge headquarters

Binder & Binder plans to lay off 100 of the 147 employees at its Hauppauge headquarters, a state regulatory filing says.

The company, once described as one of the country’s largest Social Security disability advocacy firms, has been shrinking its workforce since completing a bankruptcy reorganization last year.

The layoffs are planned for Dec. 11.

In addition, Binder & Binder plans to close its Long Island City, Queens, office and lay off all 90 employees, also on Dec. 11, a separate WARN notice says.

The company filed for Chapter 11 in December 2014, and in October 2016 its reorganization plan was approved, according to court documents and a clerk at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, where the case was filed. Earlier this year, Binder & Binder closed its Tampa, Florida, office, according to a published report.

The company didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

Binder & Binder describes itself as a Social Security disability advocate that helps clients with their benefits claims.

The firm was noted for its once-ubiquitous TV commercials featuring co-founder Charles Binder in a cowboy hat, intoning: “We’ll deal with the government. You have enough to worry about.”

But a shrinking number of people seeking benefits and tighter government standards for granting them meant less money for firms like Binder & Binder, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

Under New York’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, companies with at least 50 full-time employees must file a 90-day notice of a mass layoff or closing.