Mitchell College, Sodexo part ways
New London — The facilities-management company Sodexo USA Inc. has notified the state that it will be closing its operation at Mitchell College, potentially leading to 59 layoffs by the end of the year.
But the college reported Monday that it is going to do its best to retain as many Sodexo employees as possible as it looks to choose a new partner to deliver dining and maintenance services.
"The primary focus ... is to have these employees continue to work for Mitchell," Kathryn Gaffney, director of marketing and communications at the college, said.
Gaffney added that the college is considering its options and has made no specific plans for how it is going to replace the Sodexo services.
"The main decision to part ways was a difference in approach," she said.
The state Department of Labor would not release the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter it received last week from Sodexo, saying the report included specific names that should not have been attached. But it gave job titles for the layoffs that include utility workers, housekeeping attendants, cooks, cashiers, groundskeepers and facilities and maintenance personnel.
According to a WARN notification letter from Joe Pardee, Sodexo director of facilities at Mitchell, the company notified the college in August that it would no longer provide dining hall or facilities-management services there as of Dec. 31.
Pardee, reached Monday, declined comment on Sodexo's closure on the Mitchell campus.
Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
