With accusations of management incompetence and gender discrimination, a student is preparing to file a grievance asking that ASUO executives Nilda Brooklyn and Joy Nair be forced out of office.
Senior Justin Sibley — a former ASUO controller — says Brooklyn and Nair fired him a few weeks ago because of personal reasons having nothing to do with his job performance. Their “unprofessional” manner, he said, shows that they may not have enough experience to do their jobs.
“I think it’s warranted,” he said about his request to impeach the leaders.
Brooklyn, who is ASUO president, and Nair, ASUO vice president, declined to comment.
As a controller, Sibley was responsible for reporting on certain groups’ budgets and making sure expenses were accounted for every month.
According to Sibley, another controller suspected a student group — whose budget he personally did not oversee — of misusing the student incidental fee. The group had dealt with similar issues last year, he said.
He helped an Oregon Commentator staff member locate the group’s public records and believes this is why he was asked to resign three days later, Sibley said.
“People have been asking around for (the documents),” he said. “(The things) I have access to are public records. That’s completely in my power to help them find what they’re looking for.”
But Sibley said the executives denied that this had anything to do with his termination. He said the pair told him they’d received complaints about him from student groups and EMU directors, he had made a few mistakes and in general he was not protecting the student incidental fee. They fired him after he refused to resign, he said.
Sibley contends none of the reasons the executives provided had merit. And he had never heard about such problems from them nor from ASUO accounting coordinator Jen Creighton, who also supervises controllers and would not comment on the incident.
“I’ve never made the same mistake twice. I certainly don’t make any more mistakes than any of the other controllers do,” Sibley said. “When I asked (Brooklyn and Nair) for specific examples, they wouldn’t give me any.”
Sibley was also the only controller out of the four who had all his reports finished when Brooklyn and Nair fired him, he said. And he added that his working relationship with groups had always been positive.
ASUO Senate President Peter Watts agreed that Sibley was a competent worker.
“I think Justin was doing a great job as a controller, and I think he had great personal skills,” he said. “It’ll be sad not to have him in the office anymore.”
Watts added that even if the executives’ reason for firing Sibley was related to him helping someone find public records, that may not have been appropriate justification.
“If a controller was revealing information that a program didn’t want out — even if it was public record — they would probably be upset,” he said. “But I don’t know that there’s necessarily a cause of action for it.”
Sibley’s grievance may also include charges of gender discrimination. Out of the 26 ASUO employees, six are males.
“I also feel that I’m targeted because they just don’t like me,” Sibley said. “And it makes me think they just don’t want guys in the office.”
The grievance will be filed to the ASUO Constitution Court today or Tuesday. The court has 7 to 10 working days to hold a hearing and usually makes a decision within a couple of days, Watts said.
Watts was not sure what would happen if the court ruled to kick Brooklyn and Nair out of office, but said impeachment is unlikely.
“There doesn’t seem to be any limits to what the court can do,” he said. “I suppose it’s possible (the executives be impeached), but I would seriously doubt it would happen.”
Sibley said even if his grievance is not approved, he hopes to at least make other students aware of what he believes to be an “unprofessional” and “inexperienced” ASUO administration.
“It’s frustrating that they have the power to do this with no merit — two people who have no experience with management,” Sibley said. “They are supposed to be representing students’ interests and should be held to a higher standard.”