Lawyer fired over missed deadline now suing City of Winnipeg

The city lawyer fired after a deadline to file a statement of claim in a lawsuit over Winnipeg's water-treatment plant was missed — costing taxpayers the chance to recoup up to $20 million — is now suing the city for wrongful dismissal.

In 2015, the city went to court against consulting firm AECOM, PCL Construction and eight other companies over leaks, heaving roofs, failing generators and explosions at the Winnipeg Water Treatment Plant, a $300-million facility located in the RM of Springfield, which opened in 2009.

According to a lawsuit filed in December 2015, some of the buildings at the water-treatment complex began failing within three years due to what the city alleged were design deficiencies and structural problems.​

Winnipeg chief administrative officer Doug McNeil said the city hoped to recover somewhere between $6 million and $20 million if the legal action succeeded.

But the lawsuit was adjourned last September when defendants pointed out the city failed to launch the legal action within a six-year timeframe allowed for this sort of legal action.

McNeil told CBC News at the time one of the city's lawyers "didn't do the research into when that period started and they missed the six-year deadline."

The lawyer was fired, McNeil said at the time.

This week that lawyer filed a statement of claim with the Court of Queen's Bench alleging wrongful dismissal.

In the statement the lawyer — who had worked in the city's legal department since 1991 — says the firing was without cause and without compensation.

Lawyer unable to find work: suit

The suit alleges the city breached the implied terms of the employment agreement, acting "unfairly, improperly, in bad faith, and in a callous fashion" in the lawyer's termination.

Lawsuit over water treatment plant dries up after lawyer misses deadline

7 years ago

Duration 1:55

A lawsuit over Winnipeg's water-treatment plant has evaporated after the city took too long to file a statement of claim, depriving taxpayers of a chance to recover up to $20 million — and costing a city lawyer their job.

The lawsuit also alleges the city's statements to media outlets — including CBC Manitoba — about the lawyer's dismissal "allowed members of the media and members of the legal profession in Manitoba to quickly and easily discern that the plaintiff was the subject of these statements."

The suit alleges that's caused "mental and emotional harm and distress" and left the lawyer unable to find work.

"The statements … tend to lower the plaintiff in the estimation of the community at large, and specifically within the legal profession, and that they reflect negatively on the character, reputation, and professional abilities of the plaintiff," reads the statement of claim.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

A city spokesperson said Friday the city was unable to comment on a matters before the courts.

At a press conference on Sept. 26, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman called the lawyer's actions "inexcusable."

In the statement of claim the lawyer says aggravated and punitive damages are in order, calling the conduct of the city "harsh, vindictive, reprehensible, malicious, and deserving of punishment."