by Emma Sandri, Madi Wong and Valerie Dittrich
The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) executive team has issued a statement regarding the employment and alleged termination of their executive director (ED), confirming the ED, Ren Niles, was officially terminated Tuesday.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the RSU executives stated Niles was dismissed in a “collective unanimous decision.”
“Up until Aug. 13, 2019, the Ryerson Students’ Union Executive Director still worked for the organization,” the statement reads. “The President did not go against the executive committee to dismiss the Executive Director.”
The Eyeopener previously reported that emails obtained alleged RSU president Vanessa Henry terminated the now-former ED, despite a motion with the rest of the executives to fire her failed.
In an email on Aug. 8 to the executives and Board of Directors (BoD) members obtained by The Eye, Henry wrote that as president, she holds the ability to dismiss the ED.
“Upon the advice of lawyers it was advised to me that I had the right to fire [Niles] as my responsibilities as President which includes; management decisions of hiring and firing.”
The statement on Tuesday cited that Niles’ dismissal was due to “a number of events that transpired” and that they felt she was no longer a good fit for the RSU.
The statement also said the team is “not at liberty” to discuss specific reasons for her termination due to confidentiality within their employment laws.
“We want to be completely transparent with the Ryerson Student Body about what is happening,” the statement reads.
“The RSU Executives have made a commitment collectively to immediately begin searching for a new Executive Director.”
This story is developing. Follow The Eyeopener on Twitter and like us on Facebook for updates.
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