It is tough to lose your job. Even tougher just before the holidays. But what about losing your job in December, all while your retirement savings is vaporized?

Today, Washington Mutual's new owner, JPMorgan Chase, gave official notice to 3,400 Seattle employees that they are out of a job. Technically called the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, JPMorgan Chase is required to give these workers a heads-up that their employment in what was the nation's largest savings and loan institution is about to end. Nationally, the number of layoffs is much higher, approaching 20,000.

The layoffs come as no surprise. Once the Seattle institution was gobbled up by JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 million in September, most employees knew that they would be deemed ‘redundant' and would likely be given their walking papers.

But what was a surprise to many employees was how quickly their 401(k) accounts disappeared, especially after hearing assurances from CEO Kerry Killinger and others within the organization.

Earlier this year, we filed a class-action lawsuit against Washington Mutual on behalf of all employees participating in the company's 401(k) plan. The employees claim that Killinger, the board and others within the company did a horrible job in fulfilling their obligation of protecting the interests of the plan, which according to our complaint, cost the employees more than $150 million in retirement savings.

This is a complicated case. Since JPMorgan Chase purchased WaMu after the thrift was seized by the FDIC, we are dealing with bankruptcy issues, amid other complications. To the thousands of former, or soon-to-be former, employees of WaMu, know that we are fighting this on all fronts. Watch our Web site for more updates.