Contract analysis

I. Purpose This memorandum sets forth the proposed investigation plan for the independent workplace investigation that Calderwood & Harkness LLP ("C&H") has been engaged to conduct on behalf of Thornwick Medical Research Institute ("TMRI"), a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation headquartered at 480 Kendall Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02142. The purpose of this investigation plan is to provide a structured roadmap

II. Background A. Client Overview Thornwick Medical Research Institute was founded in 2003 as a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing biomedical research and translating laboratory discoveries into clinical applications. TMRI operates four biomedical research laboratories, designated Labs B-1 through B-4, as well as two clinical-trial coordination centers. The four laboratories are hous

III. Identification of Parties A. Respondent Dr. Marcus Ellender, age 51, has served as Director of Biomedical Engineering Laboratories at TMRI since January 2018. In this role, Dr. Ellender has overall supervisory responsibility for all four biomedical research laboratories (Labs B-1 through B-4) and directly or indirectly supervises a total of 43 employees, including 23 research scientists, 14 lab technicians, and

1. Dr. Yuna Sakata Dr. Yuna Sakata is a Senior Research Scientist assigned to Lab B-2. She has been employed by TMRI since March 2019. Dr. Sakata filed her formal written grievance on August 12, 2024, making hers the earliest of the five grievances. Dr. Sakata alleges that Dr. Ellender retaliated against her following her oral report of a chemical spill in Lab B-2 to EHS Director Alan Murdoch on August 2, 2024. Speci

2. Trevor Hollins Trevor Hollins is a Lab Technician III assigned to Lab B-3. He has been employed by TMRI since June 2020. Mr. Hollins filed his formal written grievance on August 19, 2024. Mr. Hollins alleges that Dr. Ellender created a hostile work environment through verbal intimidation during lab meetings, including berating Mr. Hollins in front of colleagues, using demeaning language, and making threatening rem

3. Dr. Priya Chandrasekaran Dr. Priya Chandrasekaran is a Postdoctoral Fellow assigned to Lab B-1. She has been employed by TMRI since September 2022. Dr. Chandrasekaran filed her formal written grievance on August 26, 2024. Dr. Chandrasekaran alleges discriminatory scheduling practices, claiming that she was consistently assigned to less favorable shifts and weekend laboratory time while similarly situated postdocto

4. Miguel Ferreira Miguel Ferreira is a Lab Technician II assigned to Lab B-4. He has been employed by TMRI since January 2021. Mr. Ferreira filed his formal written grievance on August 30, 2024. Mr. Ferreira alleges that Dr. Ellender directed him to bypass OSHA-mandated personal protective equipment ("PPE") protocols during time-sensitive experiments on at least three occasions between March and July 2024. Mr. Ferre

5. Sandra Nix Sandra Nix is a Research Associate assigned to Lab B-2. She has been employed by TMRI since November 2020. Ms. Nix filed her formal written grievance on September 4, 2024, making hers the most recent of the five grievances. Ms. Nix alleges a hostile work environment and, critically, alleges that she personally witnessed Dr. Ellender instruct staff members to alter lab-notebook entries in order to concea

IV. Categories of Alleged Misconduct and Applicable Legal/Policy Frameworks Based on the five grievances and the information developed during the preliminary-intake phase, the alleged misconduct can be organized into four principal categories. Each category is discussed below, together with the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks, relevant TMRI policies, and the key factual issues that the investigation will n

V. Proposed Investigation Methodology A. Upjohn/Corporate-Miranda Warnings All witness interviews conducted during the investigation will begin with an Upjohn warning, also known as a corporate-Miranda warning, consistent with the framework established in Upjohn Co. v. United States, 449 U.S. 383 (1981). The purpose of the Upjohn warning is to ensure that each witness understands the nature of the investigation, the

1. Complainant Interviews (5 Sessions) Proposed Schedule: September 23, 2024 through approximately October 11, 2024. Each complainant will be interviewed individually in a private conference room at TMRI's campus or, if the complainant prefers, at C&H's Boston office at One Federal Place, Suite 3200, Boston, MA 02110. Interviews are expected to last between 90 minutes and two hours each, depending on the complexity o

1. Dr. Yuna Sakata — Dr. Sakata's interview will be conducted first because she filed the earliest grievance (August 12, 2024) and because the retaliation timeline in her case is the most time-sensitive. The August 9, 2024 email from Dr. Ellender to Joanna Pratt is a critical piece of evidence that should be explored early in the investigation.

2. Trevor Hollins — Mr. Hollins's interview will focus on the hostile-work-environment allegations and the incident-report falsification claims, which intersect with Sandra Nix's lab-notebook-alteration allegations.

3. Dr. Priya Chandrasekaran — Dr. Chandrasekaran's interview will explore the discriminatory-scheduling and conference-attendance allegations, as well as the retaliatory performance-review claim. This interview will require careful inquiry into whether Dr. Chandrasekaran's treatment may have been motivated by a protected characteristic.

4. Miguel Ferreira — Mr. Ferreira's interview will focus on the PPE-bypass directives and the threat of termination for raising safety concerns. This interview will seek to identify specific dates, experiments, and witnesses for each alleged incident.

5. Sandra Nix — Ms. Nix's interview will be conducted last among the complainants because her allegations — particularly the lab-notebook-alteration claim — are the most complex and because the investigation team will benefit from the context provided by the other complainant interviews before addressing Ms. Nix's testimony. Her account of the September 14, 2023 biohazard-containment breach will require detailed expl

2. Corroborating-Witness Interviews (Estimated 6–10 Sessions) Proposed Schedule: Approximately October 14, 2024 through October 18, 2024. Following completion of the complainant interviews, the investigation team will conduct interviews with corroborating witnesses identified during the complainant-interview phase and the preliminary-intake process. The initial list of corroborating witnesses includes, at minimum, th

3. Respondent Interview (Dr. Marcus Ellender) Proposed Schedule: Following completion of the complainant and corroborating-witness interviews, the respondent interview is estimated for late October 2024, approximately October 23–24, 2024. Dr. Ellender will be notified of the investigation and of his interview via an investigation-notification letter to be sent on September 16, 2024. The notification letter will advis

4. Follow-Up Interviews The investigation team will reserve time during early to mid-November 2024 for follow-up interview sessions as needed. Follow-up interviews may be necessary to address new information developed during the document-review process or during the respondent interview, to resolve inconsistencies between witness accounts, or to pursue additional lines of inquiry identified during the course of the i

1. Email correspondence from Dr. Ellender's TMRI email account, covering the date range of January 1, 2023 through September 18, 2024. Based on information provided during the HR intake phase, the preliminary estimate is approximately 312 email threads. The email collection may be expanded to include email accounts of other relevant custodians (e.g., Joanna Pratt, Alan Murdoch) as warranted by the investigation's dev

2. Safety-incident reports filed for Labs B-1 through B-4, covering calendar years 2022 through 2024. Particular focus will be directed to Incident Reports IR-2024-031 and IR-2024-038, which are specifically identified in Trevor Hollins's grievance.

3. Lab-notebook pages from Lab B-2, September through October 2023 entries, both original physical notebooks and any scanned or digital copies. Approximately 15 pages have been flagged for potential alteration based on Sandra Nix's grievance. The physical notebooks must be secured and their chain of custody documented.

4. Performance-evaluation forms authored by Dr. Ellender covering all direct reports in Labs B-1 through B-4 for the relevant period. Based on the number of direct reports and the typical annual or semi-annual evaluation cycle, the estimated number of forms is approximately 28.

5. TMRI EHS audit reports for the relevant period (2022–2024). Based on the typical schedule for EHS audits, the estimated number of reports is approximately 6.

6. Scheduling records, meeting minutes, and attendance logs for laboratory meetings and conferences relevant to Dr. Chandrasekaran's claims of discriminatory scheduling and denial of conference-attendance opportunities.

7. Grant-progress reports for NIH Grant Nos. 5R01-EB029174 and 1R01-EB034851, which will provide context regarding the research activities conducted under Dr. Ellender's supervision and the allocation of personnel to grant-funded projects.

8. HR files for all five complainants and for Dr. Ellender, including prior complaints (if any), disciplinary history, employment applications, offer letters, position descriptions, and all other employment records maintained by TMRI's HR department. Document-Collection and Review Log. James Underwood will be responsible for creating and maintaining a document-collection and review log that tracks, for each document

VI. Administrative Leave Recommendation We recommend that TMRI place Dr. Marcus Ellender on paid administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation, effective as soon as practicable after delivery of the investigation-notification letter. The proposed effective date is September 18, 2024. The rationale for this recommendation is threefold: First, placing Dr. Ellender on administrative leave will serve t

VII. Coordination with Parallel Workstreams A. Litigation Hold General Counsel Elena Graff has indicated her intention to issue a litigation-hold memorandum on September 13, 2024. The litigation-hold memorandum will be addressed to all relevant document custodians, including Dr. Ellender, Joanna Pratt, Alan Murdoch, lab supervisors for Labs B-1 through B-4, the Information Technology department, and the Human Resourc

VIII. Privilege and Confidentiality Considerations The investigation is conducted under the direction of TMRI General Counsel Elena Graff and is protected by the attorney-client privilege and the attorney work-product doctrine. The following principles govern the handling of privileged and confidential information throughout the investigation: The client in this engagement is TMRI as the institutional employer. The a

IX. Proposed Timeline The following table sets forth the proposed timeline for the investigation from the date of this memorandum through the anticipated delivery of the final investigative report and presentation to TMRI's Board of Directors. The estimated total duration from the engagement date (September 10, 2024) to delivery of the final investigative report is approximately 10 to 11 weeks. This timeline is subje

X. Budget and Staffing Engagement Team The investigation will be conducted by the following C&H team members: Bernard Crawford is designated as the billing partner for the engagement. Mr. Crawford will not participate in the substantive investigation but will oversee billing and engagement-administration matters. Estimated Budget The estimated budget range per the engagement letter is $175,000 to $225,000, inclusive

XI. Deliverables The following deliverables will be produced in connection with this investigation:

1. Investigation-Notification Letters (respondent and complainants) — The notification letters will inform Dr. Ellender and each of the five complainants of the investigation, the general nature of the allegations, the role of C&H, and applicable rights and obligations. Target delivery date: September 16, 2024.

2. Witness Interview Summaries — Following each interview session, the investigation team will prepare a detailed written summary of the witness's testimony, marked as confidential attorney work product. These summaries will be maintained in the investigation file and will form the factual basis for the interim findings memorandum and the final investigative report.

3. Document-Collection and Review Log — A comprehensive log tracking all documents collected, reviewed, and analyzed during the investigation, including document identification numbers, custodian information, document type, date range, relevance designations, privilege designations, and reviewer notes. This log will be maintained throughout the investigation and provided to Renata Vasquez as part of the investigation

4. Interim Findings Memorandum — A memorandum summarizing the investigation's preliminary factual findings and any areas requiring further inquiry. This memorandum will be addressed to Elena Graff and Grace Okenwa and will be delivered in early November 2024. The interim memorandum is intended to provide TMRI's leadership with an early indication of the investigation's direction and to facilitate any time-sensitive d

5. Final Investigative Report — A comprehensive written report setting forth the investigation's factual findings, legal and policy analysis, credibility assessments, and recommended corrective actions. The final report will address each of the four categories of alleged misconduct and will provide TMRI with a defensible record of the investigation