Last week, the AMS published results from an external investigation which cleared President Miguel Martinez of multiple allegations.
“I am pleased the external investigation has concluded,” Martinez said in a statement to The Journal. “We can now begin to move on from this.”
The executive summary of the report’s findings reported that Brandon Tyrrell, former judicial affairs manager, acted in breach of his employment agreement and a confidentiality non-disclosure agreement signed “as a function of his employment agreement.”
The report also found that Martinez “took no part” in the decision to terminate Tyrrell, nor did he interfere with Tyrrell’s investigation into him.
The report cleared Martinez of the allegation that he pressured AMS Secretary Bronwyn Woolhouse to take over Tyrrell’s investigation.
“While the investigation was necessary for transparency and ability, it is unfortunate that it had such a toll on the organization’s resources including the time of specific individuals,” Martinez said. “That being said, I have not wavered in my professional capacity as the AMS President and my responsibility of representing students.”
The investigation took over 50 hours and cost the AMS Board of Directors $15,000.
Following the delivery of the report at last week’s Assembly, Martinez thanked those who ed him throughout the investigation’s process.
“To all of you who ed me throughout this process and had your trust in me through it all, thank you. To those of you who made this a more challenging process for me, thank you as well,” he said, adding it allowed him to “grow and strengthen [his] resiliency.”
In a written statement provided to The Journal, Tyrrell shared his thoughts on the investigation’s report.
“I want to take a moment to thank of Assembly,” he said. “In particular, [Engineering Society President Carson] Cook for giving a directive to the Board of Directors to retain an external investigator.”
On the point that the report’s investigator, John Curtis, described Tyrrell as an “unreliable witness” in his executive summary, Tyrrell said with “minimal evidence at [Curtis’] disposal and statements from numerous AMS representatives up against [his], anyone would have doubted [Tyrrell’s] credibility.”
He added after a four-month investigation “many grey areas remain” and the $15,000 spent for Curtis’s services were “wasted.”
Martinez also told The Journal he’d like “to ask for everyone to respect the privacy of the parties involved.”
“I hope you all take the opportunity to reflect and place more trust in student leaders,” Martinez said.
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