The CEO of a California technology company has apologized after including a quote from a Martin Luther King sermon in an email to employees announcing layoffs, calling it “inappropriate and insensitive.”

Near the end of her 1,700-word email to employees dated Jan. 24, which is posted at company websitePagerDuty’s Jennifer Tejada cites Martin Luther King Jr.’s “The measure of man“shortly after the announcement of the company’s shares.

“At times like these, I am reminded of what Martin Luther King said, ‘The ultimate measure [leader] not where [they] stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where [they] persevere in times of challenge and controversy,” the email reads.

PagerDuty did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Jan. 31.

In an email announcing the layoffs, which does not include the word “layoffs,” Tejada first talks about the economy, interweaving the company’s successes.

In roughly seven paragraphs of the email, Tejada mentions four “refinements” to the company’s operating model, which include “eliminating approximately 7% of roles worldwide.”

Based in San Francisco A cloud computing company estimated to be 950 full-time employeesaccording to Yahoo Finance.

Four paragraphs later, Tejada notes that those affected by the layoffs will receive severance pay with pay for an average of 11 weeks, health insurance for at least three months and “career transition support.”

Some on social media were quick to criticize Tejada’s approach.

“Did PagerDuty seriously decide it was a good idea to quote MLK in a press release where they layoff 7% their workforce?” – wrote one of the Twitter users.

One user called the letter “an all-time classic.” bad notice of dismissal,” while another called the ad “the most tone-deaf dismissal email.”

“The email is very long and looks like it was written by an AI that took all the phrases people normally say and put them into one long email,” wrote one user.

Exactly the same another user suggested to make the announcement look like it would written by ChatGPT.

Some, however, stood behind Tejada.

“I have no perspective on any of PagerDuty HR’s actions or corporate communications,” one user wrote. “But I know that Jennifer Tejada is very genuine with impeccable integrity. She will handle criticism and fight to do what is right.”

Another called Tejada “a huge man and a deeply thoughtful and caring leader.”

In his apology email sent on January 27, Tejada says he “should have been more open about the layoffs in the email, more careful with my tone and more succinct.”

“The way I reported the layoffs distracted from our number one priority: showing concern for the employees we’ve laid off and showing them the grace, respect and gratitude they and all of you deserve,” Tejada wrote.