Backlash over abrupt layoffs of Equity and Inclusion staffers
The abrupt termination of seven Cambridge staff members drew universal condemnation Monday during a City Council meeting, even from councillors who agreed that a restructuring was warranted.
The administration has defended the firings as part of an efficiency-focused plan nearly two years in the making, but city councillors and community members called the process unprecedented, opaque, harmful to vital services, “inhumane” and “brutal,” especially coming shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday.
The employees laid off Thursday were from the City of Cambridge’s Equity and Inclusion Department: all three staff of the Commission on the Status of Women; both staff members of the Human Rights Commission and LGBTQ+ Commission; and two staff members supporting the Peace Commission, Police Review & Advisory Board and the Office of Equity and Inclusion…