‘Blindsided’: Miguel Arias, employee of Fresno Chaffee Zoo reacts to unexpected layoffs

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Fresno Chaffee Zoo has laid off its entire custodial staff and will replace them with an outside company.

A few employees spoke with YourCentralValley shortly after they were laid off Thursday morning. They said they had no idea this was coming. 

The custodial ​team was made up of 10 people. Some of those laid-off employees, who chose to remain anonymous, say management texted them Wednesday night that there would be a staff meeting the next morning. It was there that they were delivered the heart-wrenching news.

One of the employees teared up when we asked her about what happened. She explained that they were given their last check, offered severance pay, and told that they would be eligible for unemployment. She says all but two were part-time employees. Some had even been with the zoo for a decade, with this being their only source of income.

We reached out to zoo officials for a statement. They say they chose to outsource the work to better meet the zoo’s needs, saying in part:

This was not an easy decision, but it is a necessary step to ensure we can best meet the needs of our organization and our guests.
The Fresno Chaffee Zoo

The employees say they weren’t told why they were laid off.

YourCentralValley spoke with Councilmember Miguel Arias, who says he is “blindsided” by this move. The zoo not only falls within his district, but he’s also on the Fresno County Zoo Authority. The group is responsible for the administration of Measure Z, the sales tax passed to support the zoo. He says the board met just last week, where the budget was presented. He says there was no indication of these layoffs or bringing in an outsourced company. He also mentions that the zoo is doing just fine financially.

We also reached out to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo CEO, Jon Dohlin, for more information, and he referred us back to the two-sentence statement. You can read the entire statement regarding the layoffs by clicking here.