Sunday, May 23, 2010

Ex-CAO sues Granisle mayor and councillors

Houston Today - News Published: May 17, 2010

Former Granisle Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Gilles Archambault served a Writ of Summons for the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Frederick J. Clarke, mayor of Granisle and councillors Dexter Etinger and Thomas Liversidge as well as the Corporation of the Village of Granisle recently.

The 19 page document details Archambault's alleged mis-treatment while acting as CAO for Granisle. According to the writ of summons document 71 yr. old Archambault, who still resides in Granisle, felt that since Clarke's arrival in Granisle in the summer of 2005 he has embarked on a campaign to discredit Archambault. In the document Archambault alleges Clarke, before he became mayor of Granisle, said to a former resident that, "The current mayor and council were ignorant country bumpkins who were under the complete control of the CAO, who was stealing funds from right under their noses." Achambault also alleges [in the document] Clarke said, "He [Archambault] is unprofessional and rude, he has mismanaged projects and functions during his role as CAO and that he had appropriated funds illegally and used those funds for his personal use."

The document states during 2008, Clarke became a candidate in the municipal election for the seat of mayor of Granisle and during this time Archambault alleges that Clarke made defamatory statements about him over the course of his campaign for mayor including statements to Debra Madore, a candidate for councillor at the time, including allegations that Archambault kept his office door locked because he kept pornography on his work computer. The document also alleges that when Clarke was elected as Mayor of Granisle in 2008, he made defamatory statements about Archambault, with the assistance of two council members named in the document as Ettinger and Liversidge. Archambault alleges throughout the document that Clarke, Liversidge and Ettinger engaged in this conduct in an attempt to force him to resign from his position as CAO.

The document notes, Clarke, in his role as mayor publishes a pamphlet titled 'News and Views from Mayor Clarke' on a regular basis. These pamphlets are distributed to every resident of Granisle and also the surrounding areas of Topley Landing, Tachet Reserve, Mill Bay Rd. and Axe Rd. Archambault states in the document that on a number of occasions Clarke used the 'News and Views' to publicly discredit him stating that he had exceeded his scope of authority as CAO and had made improper expenditures with municipal funds. It is also alleged in the document that Archambault's competence as a CAO was repeatedly brought into question in front of the public at council meetings and in the "News and Views'.

On Jan. 20 2010, according to the document, a resolution made by council, Liversidge and Ettinger verbally questioned Archambault's competence and allegedly suggested he would be dismissed in the future. According to the document the resolution was as follows, "Whereas it is expected that the up coming administrative review may bring about changes in staffing structure, therefore that council does not renew the employment contract for CAO and manager of public works, Gilles Archambault." The resolution was then moved by Liversidge, seconded by Ettinger and approved by Clarke.

Archambault also alleges in the document that inter-office memorandums also aimed at discrediting him, with one such memorandum reported in the Writ of Summons stating, "Your memorandum [a memorandum sent by Archambault to staff] of Jan. 29 is disgraceful both in terms of language and content and will be placed in your file as a sample of your literacy skills." The writ of summons states that between Dec. 1 2008 and Feb. 10 2010 Clarke, sometimes with the assistance of Liversidge and Ettinger, failed to support Archambault in his role as CAO and credited an intolerable work environment that demonstrated an intent to repudiate the contract including; speaking in a disrespectful and aggressive manner to Archambault on a regular basis, berating and humiliating him in front of members of the general public, stating that he had stolen funds from Granisle without any evidence of any such wrong doings, limiting his spending authority to $2,500 whereas it had previously been unlimited and causing Archambault severe emotional distress. This then resulted in council, during a public meeting, not to renew Archambault's employment contract.

Archambault is seeking the courts assistance [through the issuance of the writ of summons document] in claiming damages for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal, damages for negligent infliction of mental suffering, damages for defamation, damages for intentional interference with contractual relations including breach of contract, damages for loss of reputation, aggravated damages, punitive damages, special damages and costs, including interest. Archambault was unable to discuss the case any further with the Lakes District News due to the matter which is still to appear before the courts. Lakes District News also approached Clarke for comment, however did not receive a response at press time.

No comments: