ACLU lays off 23 employees nationally and closes Wyoming chapter
The American Civil Liberties Union is laying off 7 percent of its national workforce to help make up an annual budget shortfall averaging about $15 million over the last five years.
Twenty-three people are being laid off, report Above the Law and the Washington Post. Both publications obtained copies of a March 26 memo by ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero announcing the cuts.
The layoffs affect lawyers in New York; Washington, D.C.; California and Wyoming, according to Above the Law. The local ACLU office in Wyoming is closing, making it the only state without a local ACLU chapter, according to Wyofile.
Local chapters in most states are sustained by local financing. In the other states, the ACLU has offered national funds to support local chapters, including chapters in Wyoming, Puerto Rico and a single office for North and South Dakota, Wyofile says. The Wyoming chapter’s executive director, attorney and program director are losing their jobs in the closure; all were employed by the national chapter.
Marsha Zeesman, deputy director of communications for the ACLU, confirmed the 7 percent reduction in force. She said the ACLU would continue to represent clients in Wyoming with the help of a national lawyer working with local counsel, according to Wyofile.
According to Romero’s memo, the ACLU had previously taken steps to cut budget costs by cutting 10 national staff positions, delaying a national staff conference until 2016 and increasing employee contributions to health plans.
Part of the budget problems are due to a family that stopped making an annual $22 million donation to the ACLU in 2009 because of investment losses.
Here is the ACLU statement provided to the ABA Journal on the layoffs: “On March 30, 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union instituted a 7 percent reduction in force and other cost-saving measures. While the organization is financially healthy and is experiencing strong fundraising, these cuts are necessary in order to balance expenses and revenues, and to allow strategic growth in targeted program areas. This year, the ACLU launched the quiet phase of its Centennial Campaign, which will culminate in its 100-year anniversary in 2020.”
Updated at 7:30 p.m. to include statement by the ACLU.
