A St. Louis County judge has ruled that the City of Duluth can lay off full-time employees.
Judge Eric Hylden's decision means layoffs that took effect Tuesday will stand, despite a lawsuit filed last week by AFSCME -- the labor unit representing many of Duluth's municipal employees.
At issue was whether the city could cut the full-time staffers while 43 part-time and temporary workers stayed on the payroll.
Twenty-one full time city workers lost their jobs this week. In total, the city will cut 165 full and part-time jobs to trim the budget.
City officials are trying to head off a deficit that could top $6 million this year.