Current" section in response to an internal controversy regarding Martinez's role. Rainey wrote that the news staff of the Times, including editor Jim O'Shea, pressured Hiller to stop publication after learning that Martinez was romantically involved with a key position employee Martinez called a staff meeting in hopes of quelling criticism, where he denied that his relationship with Mullens played a role in Grazer's selection as guest editor. Later in the day he filed a post on the Times opinion blog where he claimed several other editors were involved in the decision, denied Mullens played any role, and described allegations of a conflict of interest as "absurd". The next day, Hiller canceled the section, and issued a statement: "We believe that this relationship did not influence the selection of Brian as guest editor. Nonetheless, in order to avoid even the appearance of conflict, we felt the best course of action was not to publish the section." Soon after, Martinez resigned his position (and then blogged about it), suggesting that he had been done in by the newsroom of his own paper, calling Hiller's decision a vote of "no confidence". Legal fallout and allegations of harassment In August 2008, Martinez filed a lawsuit against ex-girlfriend Mullens, alleging that the public relations executive had cost him his job at the newspaper and tarnished his professional reputation. Mullens' attorney claimed that the suit was retaliation against her client, who had filed a restraining against Martinez earlier in the year. The Washington Post (2007-2008) In November 2007, Martinez was hired by the Washington Post's website to write a twice-weekly political advice column called "Stumped". The column ran through the end of the presidential campaign in November 2008. Public Policy (2007-Present) In July 2007, Martinez started a new job as a fellow at the New America Foundation. In 2009, Martinez was hired to direct the Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program with the mission to "identify and support the next generation of American public policy scholars and writers" at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC. References External links 1966 births Living people Yale University alumni Stanford University alumni Columbia Law School alumni American columnists The New York Times editors Los Angeles Times people Pittsburgh Post-Gazette people American people of Mexican descent