Star publisher: reporters weren’t forced to make decision on jobs
Kansas City Star publisher Mi-Ai Parrish issued a memo to staff today strongly denying reports a pair of staffers were forced to choose which would keep her job.
The memo was obtained by Bottomline Communications. Read the full memo there.
“Some of you may have seen online reports regarding the recent layoffs at The Star. We want to be clear that we did not ask our employees to work out any decisions amongst themselves…
“In fact, the feedback we’ve received from employees has been overwhelmingly in favor of making the voluntary option available. For this particular severance program. for any group of two or more employees in which a reduction is to occur we did offer the voluntary option. However, if there are no volunteers, as is our practice, the employee with the least tenure will be included in the reduction. This program was clearly communicated to those employees affected by the severance program.
“We find it unfortunate the way the situation has been portrayed, and we are very sorry for the impact on the employees involved. We will continue to work with all employees affected by this severance program to help them transition through this difficult time made even more difficult by the misinformation being reported.”
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