Laid-Off Fairview Employees Get 6-Month Reprieve

Sixteen employees of Fairview Developmental Center who were laid off earlier this month have had their jobs reinstated for six months, according to an agreement between their union and the state Department of Developmental Services.

The Jan. 11 agreement between the California State Employees Assn. and the department enabled the laid-off workers--six of them developmentally disabled--to work until June 30, allowing union representatives and state social workers time to counsel and help them find jobs. Union representatives were concerned that the developmentally disabled workers would not be able to find jobs or cope with their layoffs.

“These are very dedicated people,” said union negotiator Elizabeth Russo. “They’ve worked productively for 15 or 20 years at Fairview. But because of their disabilities, they need extra assistance to find jobs or they will just be lost.”

The 16 employees were part of the first wave of layoffs at the developmental center, which since January 1994 has transferred about 200 of its patients back to private or group homes as mandated by a court ruling.

The San Francisco Superior Court ruling required the state to reduce its institutionalized population of mentally disabled people from 6,300 to 4,300. Fairview now has 825 patients.

Remaining employees will also have six months notice of layoffs, according to the agreement.