Eight Fired USDA Wine Grape Scientists Back on the Job
Certain Pockets Near the Summertime Wildfire Reporting Damaged Grapes and Flawed Ferments
by Pam Strayer for WineBusiness.com
“Presto, change-o”–after firing eight wine grape research scientists on Feb. 17, the former USDA employees found themselves back at work this week, after receiving emails saying their jobs had been restored.
USDA smoke exposure researcher Arran Rumbaugh was terminated last week during a period of mass federal worker layoffs in which an estimated 200,000 federal employees lost their jobs.
But things are looking up.
“I just got an email on Monday morning that was forwarded from my area director saying that they've rescinded my termination letter–effective immediately. So as of yesterday morning, I was back to work,” said Rumbaugh.
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The reason for the reversal was unclear.
“I honestly have no clue,” said Rumbaugh, echoing remarks by Brown and her colleague, Alisa Jacobson, co-chair of the West Coast Smoke Exposure Task Force (WCSETF) subcommittee.
Jacobson, Rumbaugh and Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers. had spoken with Congressman Mike Thompson last week to find out if there was a way to reverse Rumbaugh’s and other scientists’ firings.
“I know that there were a lot of stakeholders who were talking to Congressman Mike Thompson, and I know that there's a lot of stakeholders in the grape and wine industry that were upset by this and trying to do something,” Rumbaugh said.
In Napa, V. Sattui president Tom Davies, spoke out on TV news about the firings and the losses smoke exposure caused to the company in 2020.
Jacobson was elated about Rumbaugh’s reinstatement. “She's very passionate about what she does, which is why we were fighting for her, and we're glad that she's decided that she is accepting the position again and can continue to be our support.”
Jacobson praised all of the researchers, calling them, “some of the smartest and brightest people out there working diligently to help support agriculture and the wine industry.”
She said the episode was a valuable lesson in speaking up. “We can fight back. We do have the power to fight back, but it's going to take a lot of work, and we have to stay on our toes for the next four years.”