After the announcement that the preliminary investigation of the sexual harassment allegations she voiced against her boss would require no future investigation, Navajo Nation Vice President Richelle Montoya said she wants the full report to be released to understand precisely how that conclusion came about.
“I expect to receive a full copy of the investigation report to come to my own conclusions,” Montoya said because she wants to know what laws from the Navajo Nation guided the investigation and, ultimately, the decision.
“I will not rely on the summary of the investigation provided in a press release,” she said, adding that she did receive an email that the full report would be shared with the public once it was shared with Navajo leadership.
However, she doesn’t know if she is included in that leadership, even though she is the vice president. She contacted Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch — who was fired on Monday — and requested the full report but has not received a response.
The eight-month investigation into the sexual harassment claims that Montoya made against Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren concluded that the events that occurred did not constitute sexual harassment, and further investigation was not warranted, according to preliminary findings released Monday.
“Vice President Montoya’s recounting of the August 17, 2023, incident does not constitute sexual harassment under policies applicable to either Navajo Nation elected officials or employees covered by the Navajo Nation [Personnel Policies Manual],” investigators wrote. “Further, the facts reported would not constitute a violation of any criminal law of the Navajo Nation.”
The Navajo Nation Attorney General’s Office launched an outside investigation into the allegations in April after Montoya voiced her claims of harassment and bullying.
Montoya first shared that she had been dealing with issues within the Navajo Nation’s Office of the President and Vice President during her remarks as part of the Navajo Nation Council’s spring session on April 15.
During a Facebook Live on April 16, Montoya followed up on her remarks by sharing that she was sexually harassed and bullied in an incident that occurred in August of 2023, but she did not name the alleged perpetrator.
In May, Nygren confirmed in a press conference that Montoya was accusing him of acting improperly in a meeting in his office on Aug. 17, 2023.
Montoya said the investigation’s alleged outcome shows that even “high-ranking elected tribal official’s claims of harassment can be dismissed and disregarded.”
“President Nygren did harass me that day in his office, and he has been harassing me every day since,” she added. “He and his staff have created a hostile work environment for everyone to witness.”
In response to the preliminary investigation results, Nygren said in a press release that the allegations against him were nothing but a “disgraceful power grab” and an attempt to remove him as president.
In an interview with the Arizona Mirror, Montoya said that is a laughable claim, and she has always made it clear to the president and his staff that she never intends to be president of the Navajo Nation.
“I was elected to be vice president,” she said. “That’s the job that I said I would do (and) that’s the job that my constituents voted me to do.”
“I’ve never tried to grab for power or his position,” she added.
Montoya said she still goes to her office at the capitol in Window Rock, which is in the same building as the Navajo Nation President’s office. However, she has only seen Nygren in passing and has not spoken to him directly since April.
In October, Nygren called for Montoya’s resignation. She said she never considered resigning because she committed to her vice-presidential role when sworn into office in 2023. She said she plans to do her best until her term ends.
“It hasn’t been easy, (but) I still do my job,” Montoya said. She still focuses on the priorities she set out during her campaign, which include missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, implementing pet initiatives across the Navajo Nation and working with local chapter house leadership.
Montoya said she continues to work on those projects, even after Nygren terminated her authority over any projects, and she hopes to add updating Navajo Nation policies and procedures to her list of projects because she wants to help protect people working on the Navajo Nation, not only in the government but with any entities on the reservation.
Montoya said she did not have guidance on how to report what happened in August 2023. She said she sought help from Branch and other attorneys within the Navajo Nation government but received none.
“Nobody knew what to do,” she said, adding that the policies related to sexual harassment and misconduct on the Navajo Nation need to be updated.
Montoya said a lot of people have reached out to her since April about their experiences of sexual harassment, and she feels it is unfortunate that this is the result of the investigation into her case.
She said many have told her they have been told it did not happen or have been questioned about how they remember the traumatic event. She said that is what happened to her, but she knows what happened and how she felt back in August 2023.
“I know what I saw that day,” Montoya said. “(Nygren) wouldn’t let me leave his office even though I asked four times, and I want other individuals out there to know that I believe them.”
Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com.