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A Pittsburgh-area solar energy company that received more than $10 million as part of the federal stimulus is asking a federal judge to allow it to file bankruptcy.

Ten former employees at the Flabeg Solar U.S. Corp plant have petitioned a federal judge for severance pay after they lost their jobs last month as the plant was shut down.  Media reports indicate that as many as 60 workers were laid off at the 4-year old, 228,000 square foot facility near Pittsburgh.

The 10 employees listed in the filing are seeking $197,000 in severance pay, according to court documents.

Robert Lampl, the Pittsburgh-based attorney for the energy company, was not immediately available for comment, and a receptionist at his office said the bankruptcy filings were not yet available because they had not been officially submitted to the court.

Lampl told other media outlets on Thursday that the company was going to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in response to the lawsuit over the severance pay.

Calls to the plant on Thursday were not immediately returned.

The plant was owned by an American subsidiary of a German glass-making firm.  The plant in Pittsburgh was manufacturing glass mirrors used by solar energy companies that do not employ the more common photo-voltaic technology.

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