West Sacramento employees were shocked to learn of mass layoffs at Manna Beverages on Friday. The company has a beverage bottling plant on Stone Boulevard and a shipping and receiving center located on Massie Court.

The employee's union confirmed to CBS Sacramento that the company had alerted workers that they would be shutting down all operations in California.

Manna Beverages employs more than 400 people at its plant in West Sacramento and hundreds more at a plant in Anaheim, according to the union.

The local workers were told late Thursday night not to come to work on Friday morning. 

"There is no transparency or anything. They just shut the doors," said Greg Ball, president of Nor-Cal Beverage Employees' Union. 

Friday, the parking lot to the shipping center was blocked off with cones and caution tape, and a note on the front door of the business told employees not to report to work until further notice. 

"We were totally shocked, totally stunned. Nobody was expecting any of this," said Ball. 

Employees are now asking if this is legal. 

CBS Sacramento could not find any record of the company making a WARN Act filing, which is the federal law that requires 60 days notice before a mass layoff or plant closure. 

West Sacramento's mayor and city leaders also confirmed to CBS Sacramento they got no WARN Act notification and were blindsided alongside these employees. 

"I've been here 17 years. There's people that have been here up to 40 years, and then all of a sudden you get a phone call and told until you're terminated. I mean, it's pretty devastating," said Ball. 

Employees sent CBS Sacramento a copy of a letter they received from Manna Beverages, dated Friday, October 3, and titled "Notice of termination." 

The letter reads, in part, "It is with the deepest regret we must inform you that uncontrollable circumstances will force the company to cease all operations at all locations on October 7, 2025 - and terminate substantially all employees." 

The letter cited the company's underperformance and failure to pay off debts. 

Company leaders even said in the letter that they tried unsuccessfully to sell the company to potential buyers. The letter adds that "the company is out of time and money" and "these circumstances were not reasonably foreseeable." 

Ball says the union received no notice that the company was having any financial issues. 

"We were supposed to, should have been given 60-day notice and nothing, so everybody's kind of in limbo," said Ball. 

The company bottles popular beverages at its West Sacramento plant, like Monster Energy drinks, Alani Nu, BODYARMOR drinks and Minute Maid juices. 

In January 2024, the Kentucky-based Manna Beverages acquired family-owned Nor-Cal Beverage Company, which was founded in West Sacramento in 1937 and operated locally for more than eighty years. 

"Well, they led us to believe that they had plenty of money. Everything was great, everything we had, they were going to make it better, and nothing. It basically, pretty much got worse," said Ball of the merger with Manna Beverages. 

CBS Sacramento spoke by phone with Remy Spearman, who is vice president of people and culture for Manna Beverages. 

Spearman neither confirmed nor denied the plant's closure and responded "no comment" to all questions, including when asked about potential WARN Act violations.

Our attempts to reach other company contacts for comment were unsuccessful.

Employees are already talking about possibly filing a lawsuit against the company. First, they want to know when they will get their final paychecks, as hundreds are now working to find a new job.