The Board of Directors of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has filed an ethics complaint in response to the now-closed investigation over alleged misconduct on the part of CEO Lakisha Ann Woods and other executive staff in the AIA National office.
The complaint, which is addressed to be answered by the AIA National Ethics Council (NEC), comes against the unnamed letter signers and other "stakeholders" accused of taking part in a "coordinated campaign" to discredit the reputation of Woods and other members of the Board.
"Once the NEC responds with recommendations for the Board, we will act with expediency to prevent future similar destructive behavior that has the potential to negatively impact the health of our organization," the announcement of the action reads.
No wrongdoing was found after the law firm Miller & Chevalier concluded its outside investigation into the allegations, which included nepotism, retaliatory firing, and a March trip to a resort in the Dominican Republic for executives. The AIA's Board of Trustees issued its own statement in support of Woods before the investigation was concluded.
The AIA, which expects membership to reach 100,000 nationally this year has said they are operating on a FY 2025 budget of $13.5 million. The organization recently laid off staff in a surprise move last week. Archinect will share an update once the NEC ruling appears on its Decisions & Advisory Opinions page.
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AIA national has spoken:
Free thought = questions = disloyalty = punishment
This is also being discussed in the Forum, at the bottom of the comments. https://archinect.com/forum/th...
I believe it's entirely possible that the accusations against Woods were unfounded and in bad faith. We can't know.
The issue I have is their statements and actions. They've relied on flat out denial and not offered any explanations or defense to very reasonable public doubt about the facts. They fired prominent employees and now laid off a few dozen staff. Now they're filing an ethics complaint. It makes no sense. They are wielding their power in total darkness. It's disgraceful.
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