00:00The meeting to convene the five-member TAHI disciplinary committee was concluded around 7 p.m. on August 17th.
00:07They are now tasked with looking into allegations that a top executive over a period of time made inappropriate sexual
00:14advances towards a TAHI member.
00:17These claims were made in July.
00:19It came on the backdrop of a discrepancy relating to $5 million being flagged by the Social Development Ministry in
00:26June,
00:26and then allegations that the funds were misappropriated by the same executive were made in July.
00:33But with reports of nepotism and board connections with some members,
00:38TV6 News posed this question to Public Relations Officer of the Association, Darren Winchester.
00:43Was there any declarations, disclosures, that kind of thing, to ensure the independence of the committee?
01:11Further to that, Winchester says, if there are any board affiliations among members,
01:16especially where they are connected to those under investigation, it would disqualify them.
01:22The committee has the authority to request information, including from past members, some of whom resigned recently.
01:30Do you know whether any time frame was set for these investigations?
01:34They will come back at a certain junction to give a time frame as to what they believe will conclude
01:43here.
01:44At the end of the day, we're not trying to put any constraints on them.
01:48But at the same time, we do expect it to be all next year around this time that we're investigating.
01:53A concern that government subventions have not been used to train staff at TAHI is another issue that was raised.
02:02The association says companies were hired in the past to provide their service to employees,
02:06but some wanted to deviate from their present field of work, which was not allowed.
02:11Upon a deeper dive, inadequacies in relation to legitimate interest in advancement courses were uncovered.
02:17The manager at the time, it didn't seem to have been a legitimate reason.
02:25Some would have cited lack of funds, but that didn't hold water.
02:30At least four legitimate requests were rejected.
02:33He also believes that the attempt to provide transitional courses aimed at getting participants up to the same speed
02:39was not well received among the deaf.
02:42Winchester indicates that TAHI is now trying to right some of the wrongs
02:47and has been meeting more frequently with deaf and hard-of-hearing staff.
02:51The aim now...
03:01It is also now confirmed that the December 2025 virtual elections did not sit well with some members.
03:08It was revealed at a meeting prior to the convening of the disciplinary committee.
03:14Incidentally, all of them work here.
03:16They did express some concerns over getting in.
03:19Connectivity is used.
03:20And, of course, they expressed that they were up to this for in-person as opposed to a virtual situation.
03:30They talked to, in some instances, it didn't disenfranchise them.
03:34So that, of course, that condition has to be taken to the board.
03:39And I guess the decision will be made there.
03:41TAHI also reveals that a case of Jason Jokan, whose contract was reduced to three months from two years
03:48and who left in frustration after being transferred from TAHI's accounting department to DRECHI,
03:54is now before Human Resources.
03:56Winchester expects the issue to be addressed.
03:59In addition, the association is getting ready to welcome a new general manager in about a month.
04:06Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
04:10Tapi you.
04:11Take care.
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