Several employees in various divisions of the Governor’s Office were served letters of termination, early this week.
KHJ News questions to the Governor’s Office Chief of Staff Taito Aliitasi Afuola-Mauga have not been answered.
It’s understood that the employees were contract workers and had six months left on their contracts. The exact number of those who were let go is not known.
Some were handling administrative work in the Governor’s Office, while others were with the Workman’s Compensation Office, the Political Status, Constitutional Review and Federal Relations Office, and the Secretary of the Government or Lt. Governor’s Office staff responsible for updating the American Samoa Administrative Code.
The letters of termination dated January 28 and signed by Taito advised the employees that their employment with the American Samoa Government ended January 28. “The collective decision has been made due to the recent appointment of new administrative officials whose responsibilities will encompass the duties currently assigned them,” wrote Taito.
The employees were advised that they will be on leave for two weeks with full pay.
Meanwhile, they had to return all government property assigned to them.
The Chief of staff encouraged the employees to seek employment opportunities with the Department of Human Resources.
Government sources told KHJ News that employees of the Lt. Governor’s Office who had been given termination letters, have been reinstated.
