WV secretary of state defends firing 1/3 of staff

Charleston Gazette-Mail: West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner on Monday defended his decision to fire 16 longtime employees upon taking office in January, an action that has resulted in wrongful-termination lawsuits being filed against him.

“It’s just what we needed to do to move the office forward,” Warner told the Senate Finance Committee.

“You know what it looks like on the surface,” Sen. Doug Facemire, D-Braxton, told Warner, who fired about one-third of the office’s staff — including many non-management employees who had anywhere from eight to 50 years of service.

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