Auditor general's former deputy says firing was 'retaliatory'

New Brunswick's auditor general is facing a lawsuit by his former deputy, who alleges in a court filing that her firing earlier this year was "retaliatory." 

Janice Leahy was one of a dozen employees of the office who left their positions this year for reasons Auditor General Paul Martin has refused to discuss.

"The termination was retaliatory in nature given the positions taken by the plaintiff [Leahy] and was in bad faith," Leahy says in a statement of claim filed Nov. 22.

She and her lawyer Robert Basque turned down an interview request, and her filing does not elaborate on what was retaliatory about her firing.

Martin has filed a notice saying he plans to file a defence.

His office refused to comment on the lawsuit Monday.

"The Auditor General cannot discuss the matter as it is before the court," spokesperson Jolyne Roy told CBC News in an email.

None of Leahy's claims have been proven in court.

Green Leader David Coon said it's "very concerning" that Leahy is alleging retaliation for positions she took, given Martin and his team were working on a review of the government's COVID-19 response at the time.

MLAs, including Coon, questioned Martin's approach to the first phase of the review when he presented it to them in September after two postponements.

"It was very unusual to have a committee hearing with the auditor general where so many questions were asked to the auditor general about the process that he followed in this case, rather than clarifying the substance of his findings," Coon said. 

The second phase of Martin's COVID-19 audit will be released next week. 

Martin said in September there was no connection between the departures from his office and his approach to the pandemic audits.

The auditor general is an independent officer of the legislature whose mandate is to review government spending and programs.

Leahy said in the court filing that she was fired July 12 "without cause, and without notice" and is owed a higher severance package than what Martin gave her.

"The plaintiff was employed in a unique and highly specialized position and was highly paid compared to the average worker in New Brunswick," the claim says. 

Leahy had worked as the deputy auditor general since 2011.

Leahy says she was earning $166,166 a year, far more than the $107,249 annual salary in the new job she found at the Canada Revenue Agency in September.

She also says she was entitled to severance equivalent to 24 months' notice, not the 10 weeks she received.

She is claiming the difference, along with lost vacation pay, pension contributions she says Martin's office should have continued making past July and other amounts totalling $163,497.37.

Martin confirmed in August that 12 people — more than one-third of his staff — had left his office since the start of 2023.

During his September appearance before the legislature's public accounts committee, he said some of them were lured away by competitive job offers from the private sector.

But he refused to say how many left for that reason or whether any were fired.

He also said his office had adopted a new strategic plan since he took over at the start of 2022, a plan that includes "building a strong team to achieve our mission, our goals and objectives."

He said his office offers "a safe and welcoming work environment" to a diverse group of employees, which had allowed him to fill the vacancies.

Martin would not say Monday whether anyone else has left his office since he confirmed 12 departures in August.