Dorsey & Whitney: Clerical Error Fans Layoff Fears

Dorsey & Whitney is not planning on more layoffs. Not in California. Anything you may have heard to the contrary is false.
If you happen to work for Dorsey & Whitney in California, you may have noticed a recent report in the San Jose Mercury News. Tons of readers sent the story to Above the Law. The news organization reprinted a list of companies that had filed layoff notices in compliance with California’s WARN regulations. Companies with more than 75 employees must provide 60 days’ notice in advance of laying off 50 or more employees.
Here’s the list. You’ll note that Dorsey & Whitney is prominently listed on the top of the page. In three separate entries, the paper makes it look like Dorsey & Whitney is planning on laying off 72 people sometime in 2010.
That’s not correct. First of all, the entries list Dorsey & Whitney as laying off people in Valencia, when in fact Dorsey’s Southern California’s office is in Irvine. Also, there aren’t even 72 people working in Dorsey’s Irvine office. It would be mathematically impossible for the firm to lay off that many people in Southern California.
The WARN filing is just a big clerical error. How did this mistake happen? The firm explains after the jump.


Above the Law talked to a Dorsey & Whitney spokesperson. The error isn’t the fault of the San Jose Mercury News:

This is for a client and appears to be a transcription error by whomever entered the info into the database. We are NOT closing our SoCal office.

Do you hear that, Dorsey – Irvine? You guys are going to be okay. Disaster averted.
Despite the error, it’s still awesome to take a peak at all the companies preparing for big-time layoffs in 2010. Toyota, Wal-Mart — those are big names.
I scanned the list for any other law firms, especially firms that may have stealthily laid people off to avoid publication. But I didn’t see any. Granted, I only looked at the first 500 entries (out of 3197). Maybe some of our readers can check out the rest and let us know if any other firms are on there?
California Layoffs Database: See if your company is planning big layoffs in 2010 [San Jose Mercury News]

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