Nichols Brothers Boat Builders returned to work after the company laid off 185 employees Nov. 2. Shortly thereafter, the company filed for bankruptcy protection, a move necessitated by a big lawsuit filed by a disgruntled customer. While the bankruptcy issues are far from settled, Nichols Brothers was allowed to negotiate with individual boat owners to see that their projects, shut down on Nov. 2, could be completed. Those boat owners are now paying the workers’ salaries, as Nichols Brothers as a company is broke and is up for sale. The rehiring process will continue as more existing contracts are placed online though negotiations with individual companies.