Deidre Travis Brown (center), Cambridge chief of Equity and Inclusion, speaks at Monday’s City Council meeting. City manager Yi-An Huang is to her left and to her right is chief people officer Rae Catchings.

The abrupt termination of seven Cambridge staff members drew universal condemnation Monday during a City Council meeting , even from councillors who agreed that a restructuring was warranted.

The administration has defended the firings as part of an efficiency-focused plan nearly two years in the making, but city councillors and community members called the process unprecedented, opaque, harmful to vital services, “inhumane” and “brutal,” especially coming shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The employees laid off Thursday were from the City of Cambridge’s Equity and Inclus

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