November 1, 2021

IES Committee Unanimously Finds No Ethical Misconduct

2021 11 ies investigation closed .jpg

Illuminating Engineering Society adopts the Ethics Committee findings and closes the case

In March 2021, former employee of the Illuminating Engineering Society, Shayna Bramley, made allegations against the organization including wrongful termination of a whistleblower and improper accounting.

Ms. Bramley’s allegations led to a months-long investigation by the IES Ethics Committee. At the IES Board of Directors meeting on October 26, the Board approved and adopted the findings of the Ethics Committee which “unanimously found that the allegations were not supported by evidence and recommended to the Board that the investigation be closed.”

Regrettably, inside.lighting played a role in giving Ms. Bramley’s LinkedIn allegations a signal boost when they were first posted in March. Ms. Bramley removed multiple social media posts containing her serious allegations within 3 hours of posting them and refused to provide inside.lighting with any evidence to support the allegations. Inside.lighting was not contacted by the IES Ethics Committee.

In her social media posts in recent months, Ms. Bramley remains steadfast in asserting her allegations and recently published comments on LinkedIn supporting another individual who is claiming wrongful termination from the IES.

In May 2021, Ms. Bramley was served with a civil lawsuit filed by an individual who is a former IES coworker of Ms. Bramley's. The lawsuit claims damages stemming from Ms. Bramley's alleged defamatory social media comments and other related counts. In court filings Ms. Bramley has denied all of those allegations.

Below is the statement from the IES relating to the Ethics Committee investigation:

To the Members, Volunteers, Staff, and Partners of IES:

In March 2021, the IES Board of Directors notified you that it was aware of certain allegations of financial and accounting fraud and wrongful termination made against IES by a former employee and IES member. The Board takes allegations of wrongful conduct seriously and it referred the matter to the IES Ethics Committee.

The IES Ethics Committee conducted a comprehensive and detailed investigation into the allegations; in doing so, it conducted numerous interviews (including of the former employee who made the allegations) and reviewed voluminous records and information such as emails, summaries of meetings, IES financial records and IES financial statements, which are audited annually by an outside independent accounting firm. The Ethics Committee unanimously found that the allegations were not supported by evidence and recommended to the Board that the investigation be closed.

The Ethics Committee submitted its Report to the IES Board of Directors in September 2021. After discussion and consideration, at its meeting on October 26, 2021, the Board approved and adopted the findings and the recommendation of the Ethics Committee and closed this matter.

The Board thanks the IES Membership and Staff for their patience during this process and for their continued dedication to maintaining the high ethical and legal compliance standards that have been a hallmark of the IES.

The Board particularly expresses its appreciation to the members of the Ethics Committee for their commitment of time, attention, and dedication in addressing this matter.