BRONTE 001-B - Engineering the Conflict Fork: Implementing and Governing Recusal-and-Transfer Controls in University Civil Rights Case-Management Systems

This paper extends a first-principles systems model of university civil rights intake (BRONTE 001) by demonstrating how the conflict-of-interest “fork” (recusal and transfer of authority when compliance staff are implicated) can be operationalized in a case-management system. It specifies concrete implementation mechanisms—data fields, triggers, blocked workflow states, transfer-authority objects, and audit logs—that prevent conflicted actors from driving case outcomes. It then maps these controls to widely recognized governance standards (administrative fairness, conflict-of-interest controls, and internal control/audit principles) without providing legal advice. The paper addresses edge cases (embedded relationships, supervisory chains, respondent vs. witness designation, partial recusals) and proposes safeguards against post-transfer “soft control” (influence over investigator selection, scope, and communications). Finally, it defines “void ab initio” carefully as a governance validity concept (procedural defect rendering internal outputs unreliable), rather than as a universal legal conclusion across jurisdictions or fact patterns. Keywords: Conflict-of-Interest Controls, Case-Management System Design, Retaliation Complaint Handling, Decision Authority Transfer, Administrative Process Integrity, Internal Controls and Auditability, Governance Validity (Void ab Initio), Structural Recusal Mechanisms