Public health worker in Minneapolis laid off in mass firings by the Trump administration
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Some 3,000 public health workers and scientists are now out of a job.
That’s after another wave of mass firings by the Trump administration over Valentine’s Day weekend targeting probationary employees in the Department of Health and Human Services.
MacClement Guthrie was among those let go.
He was a public health advisor working with Minneapolis school-based clinics through a program under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He provided sexual and reproductive health education as well as data analysis to track trends.
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While he said he saw “the writing on the wall” weeks ahead, the news came suddenly.
He and his colleagues were informed late on Friday afternoon that there would be layoffs. He then received a letter the following Saturday night informing him he had been terminated.
Guthrie said he and his colleagues in the program — all of whom lost their jobs — are looking into pursuing a class-action lawsuit.
“We do feel that these terminations were made without cause, unfairly, and we hope to be able to continue doing this important work,” he told MPR News.
To hear the full interview with Guthrie, use the audio player above.