Danbury Coronavirus: Scholastic Lays Off 87 Employees

DANBURY, CT — Scholastic, Inc. has notified the State Department of Labor it will be permanently closing its facility at 90 Old Sherman Turnpike.

The action is being taken as a "result of the unforeseeable, dramatic and significant downturn in business and revenue" caused by the new coronavirus. The notification was made in a letter dated April 2, from Scholastic's senior human resources manager Donna Millilo to the DOL's Rapid Response Unit.

Scholastic publishes books and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, and children, primarily through school reading clubs and fairs, and also through retail stores and online sales.

Millilo told the DOL that Scholastic had temporarily furloughed some employees on or around March 23, but that all 87 employees at the facility would be laid off on or within 14 days after June 5.

The virus outbreak "significantly decreased revenue and customer counts as a result of widespread cancellation of orders across the Book Fairs, Book Clubs and Scholastic Education departments, which are all inextricably intertwined with and dependent on schools," Millilo said in the letter. "These circumstances were not reasonably foreseeable until recently when the ongoing impact of COVID-19 became clear."

The letter was sent to the DOL in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), designed to protect workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers with 100 or more employees to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice of a plant closing and mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment. WARN makes certain exceptions to the requirements when layoffs occur due to "unforeseeable business circumstances, faltering companies, and natural disasters."