Two upcoming state investigations into the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority are creating upheaval at the public-funded agency, and an attorney for the authority’s CEO, Marcel Vernon, said the board made moves to terminate his employment based on his welcoming of those investigations.

Two separate legislative committee investigations — one related to diversity procedures at the authority and another focused on alleged irregularities in recordkeeping and data collection — are set to begin queries in January, according to documents obtained by the Business Journal.

The first public hearing, led by the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion and scheduled for Jan. 6, is looking into issues related to alleged racial discrimination that led to the departure in 2023 of executive director David Gibbons. That led to a report detailing the lack of diversity among the MCCA’s leadership, issued in October 2023 by law firm Prince Lobel Tye LLP.

Vernon joined the authority as CEO in 2024, and he made clear that his mission included updating the organization’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The second legislative investigation, being led by the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, asks the MCCA to explain its process and decisions in 2023 related to destruction of some devices amid two investigations at that time. The committee on Friday requested that answers to its inquiries be submitted before Dec. 19, according to documents obtained by the Business Journal. The hearing has not been scheduled.

Vernon, according to a letter to the board from his lawyer, Joseph Lipchitz, managing partner of the Boston office at Boston law firm Saul Ewing LLP, welcomed both investigations and said he would actively participate. On Friday evening the board scheduled a meeting for Sunday night, which took place in executive session and was apparently an attempt by the board to remove Vernon from office, according to Lipchitz’s email to the board.

Vernon’s lawyer alleged that the board meeting was scheduled to fire Vernon “for his public support for two demands for information” from the two committees. He added that the timing of the meeting was in violation of state law, due to it being scheduled without 48 hours’ notice.

“The planned termination of Mr. Vernon at a meeting which so clearly violates the Open Meeting Law is a reflection of a panicked desire on your part and on the part of certain other MCCA employees on whom the Legislature has focused its attention to keep a ‘lid’ on unfavorable information, to protect the jobs of certain of those individuals and to intimidate those with information of interest to the Legislature and the public from providing it,” Lipchitz wrote in a letter to the board on Saturday.

The board has not yet taken any formal action to remove Vernon from his position, according to a source close to the board who did not have authorization to speak publicly on the matter. As of Monday afternoon, Vernon was still employed and working in his position as CEO, the source confirmed.

The Boston Herald first reported on the investigations and the action from the board.

When asked for comment, MCCA Board Chair Emme Handy directed inquiries to a spokesperson for the authority. The authority’s spokesperson declined to comment.

Vernon did not respond to a request for comment.

Isabel Hart covers the health care, tourism and cannabis industries for the Boston Business Journal.