Club made tough choices

Regarding the April 2 article in The Spokesman-Review, “Layoff a shock after a lifetime of work.”

In these financial times, it’s not business as usual – not for employees or for employers. All businesses face challenges, including the Spokane Club, where reorganization and sacrifices have been made at every level of our organization in order to ensure membership retains its value to our members.

Last year, the club was compelled to restructure our catering department in order to remain financially competitive and stable. Unfortunately, this process included cutting some positions and restructuring others, including compensation. To be fair to our employees, we created an application and selection process for the new positions. We received both internal and external applications, and all internal applicants were hired.

One employee chose not to apply. We respect that choice. Contrary to the article, the club does not and did not “appeal unemployment filings.” As we do with every departure from our organization, we supplied the appropriate information to the state, which ultimately granted benefits. We are pleased with that result.

John Pilcher

CEO, Spokane Club