By Greg Kielec City fined $15,000 in precedent-setting case WHAT THEY SAID “I’m going to send you a statement. That’s all we’re saying on this matter.” Paul Fitzpatrick: CAO of city of Cornwall Statement from city
By Greg Kielec Cornwall will use interest from its Progress Fund to pay for construction of the Benson Centre. Only three councillors voted against the proposal last Monday, asking for more time to review proposals from administration. An earlier motion by Coun. Bernadette Clement to defer a vote on the proposal was defeated. Clement was against tying up the bulk of interest from the Progress Fund for 15 to 20 years. Councillor Maurice Dupelle also sought more time to study the issue. “These things come before us really fast,” he said. But their opposition may have been moot; it turned out council had already voted in favour of using Progress Fund interest in 2009. Just four councillors voted for the deferral. Councillor Andre Rivette said taxpayers Cornwall has been fined $15,000 plus a $3,750 victim surcharge for retaliating against a whistleblower in a precedent- setting case in Ontario. The city pleaded guilty to retaliating against a registered nurse Diane Shay who complained to the province about per- ceived abuse at Glen Stor Dun Lodge sen- iors home. The founder of an international whistle- blower organization has received “over- whelming global notices” from people reading about a Cornwall case on her web- site. The city, in a press release to media, said it pleaded guilty to avoid “spiralling” legal costs. Councillor Elaine MacDonald said the city’s decision to plead guilty was the best option to save taxpayer dollars. “I think the city did the right thing.” Councillor Syd Gardiner said the case could have dragged another two years and cost the city anywhere from$100,000 to $200,000 more. But Councillor Andre Rivette was loathe to call it a victory for taxpayers. “I’m not happy about it,” Rivette told The Journal Friday. “As far as I’m concerned, she was doing her job as health and safety officer.” He added the city wouldn’t have pleaded guilty if it thought it could win the case. Neither Rivette, nor MacDonald and Gar- diner could answer howmuch the case cost city taxpayers. Evelynn Brown, president and CEO of the Brown Centre for Public Policy - Business Ethics Institute, said she was getting plenty of global reaction from the case. Brown, who wrote a lengthy opinion piece on Whistlewatch.org, hailed Shay’s courage in her fight against city management ac- cused of violating whistleblower legisla- tion. “Congratulations to whistleblower, Diane Shay . . . and the legal team who success- fully mounted a whistleblower retaliation challenge,” wrote Brown founder of the in- ternational Whistleblower Advocacy Group. When management ignored her com- plaints of abuse “Shay dutifully took the matter to higher ground,” Brown wrote, adding: “The backlash can only be de- scribed as egregious.”.
from her job for sounding the alarm,” said Grinspun. Shay’s lawyer, Fay Brunning, says the case “shows that employers will be con- victed and that managers who breach the law will at least be named for retaliatory conduct.” She says the law has been In reaching the above decision, the City considered the reality that the trial was scheduled to take over six days; the staff time involved; and, most impor- tantly the ongoing legal costs which were spiralling beyond acceptable lev- els. In light of these facts and in all the circumstances, the City is pleased that this matter is now at an end. Follow @gkielec on Twitter. For breaking news, go to www.editionap.ca and click on The Journal. Email greg.kielec@eap.on.ca The following statement was re- leasedby city administration Thurs- day regarding a charge it illegally retaliated against an employee who blew the whistle on perceived abuse at Glen-Stor-Dun Lodge. The City of Cornwall released the fol- lowing statement today regarding its guilty plea to a charge that it retaliated against an employee after she made a disclosure of information to a provin- cial inspector. The matter was dealt with today (October 27th) in the On- tario Provincial Offences Court. The City has accepted a $15,000 fine plus the provincially mandated victim fine surcharge. The charges stem from an incident that occurred in 2008 when a City em- ployee contacted the Ministry of Health in relationship to the City’s handling of an incident at the Glen Stor Dun Lodge. City administration had taken the posi- tion that the City employee, who was not in a management position with the Lodge or had any direct involvement with the situation, had overstepped her responsibilities. The warnings and sub- sequent letters of reprimand that the City issued to the employee were deemed to amount to intimidation by the Province.
This is an important decision for nurses and the people we care for. It enables us to speak out and protect residents without fear of retaliation.” Doris Grinspun, executive director of RNAO “This precedent setting case in Canada tolls a bell, sending a re- sounding message. Retaliate against a whistleblower and YOU will be outed.” Evelynn Brown, president and CEO of the Brown Centre for Public Policy - Ethics in Business Institute
CAO won’t reveal cost of retaliation case to taxpayers
speak out and protect residents without fear of retaliation,” Grinspun said. The case against the city stretches back to early 2008. At the time, Shay, wanted to ensure that the nursing home followed up on its legal obligation to report a per- ceived abuse incident to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. “Instead, Shay found herself the victim of harassment and retaliation from her super- visor and was subsequently terminated nal this morning. “I’m going to send you a statement. That’s all we’re saying on this matter,” Fitzpatrick said, describing the matter “an HR (human resources) issue”. In the statement, the city cited legal costs which were “spiraling beyond acceptable levels” as one of the reasons it opted not to take the case to trial. The city was fined $15,000 for the viola- tion and was also levied a provincially mandated victim surcharge in provincial court. Follow @gkielec on Twitter. For breaking news, go to www.editionap.ca and click on The Journal. Email greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
By Greg Kielec
were promised when the Benson Centre was built that money to finance would come from the Progress Fund. “So I’m to- tally in favour of using the interest from the Progress Fund.” His comments were echoed by Councillor Denis Thibault. “The community has been told this before . . . that we will utilize the interest from the fund,” he told council. Councillor Glen Grant also argued against a deferral. “Deferring it doesn’t do anything. I can’t support the deferral.” Councillor Denis Carr continued to argue against a decision last Monday evening, even after the deferral was defeated. Warned by Mayor Bob Kilger to stay on topic, Carr lamented it was “a shame” coun- cil members couldn’t say all they needed on such an important issue. Follow @gkielec on Twitter. For breaking news, go to www.editionap.ca and click on The Journal. Email greg.kielec@eap.on.ca The Registered Nurses Association of On- tario has also lauded Shay for her stand. “As an operator of this home, the City of Cornwall had a legal obligation to deal with a serious incident. When it failed to do so, Ms. Shay did the right thing and stood up for the rights of residents who deserve dig- nity and protection,” said Doris Grinspun, executive director of RNAO “This is an important decision for nurses and the people we care for. It enables us to Cornwall’s chief administrative officer will not say how much it cost to defend the city against charges it violated provincial law in a whistle-blowing case. The city pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge it illegally retaliated against Diane Shay, a health and safety officer with the city in 2008, who had complained to the Ontario Ministry of Health about a per- ceived case of abuse at Glen Stor Dun Lodge. Paul Fitzpatrick, Cornwall CAO, refused to divulge howmuch the case cost the city in legal fees when contacted by The Jour-
Cornwall to use Progress Fund interest for Benson Centre
Photo by Greg Kielec Councillor Bernadette Clement looks at Cornwall chief financial officer Maureen Adams as she outlines proposals to pay for the Benson Centre Multisport complex.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker