More N.B. Liquor employees coming forward on improprieties, lawyer says

The lawyer for a potential whistleblower in a lawsuit against N.B. Liquor says five other former employees of the corporation are now offering inside information about its practices.

Christian Michaud told a Court of Queen's Bench hearing in Fredericton that he was contacted on their behalf after it was reported in the media that the corporation's former director of finance is seeking whistleblower status.

He said the other ex-employees can offer evidence of improprieties at the corporation. 

"There are higher management people that I know that have seen issues of concern over the years," he said.

"This will probably bring about other issues of concern within the organization." 

Tuesday's hearing was part of a lawsuit filed by Hartland businessperson Peter Cook, who had the town's N.B. Liquor agency outlet in his grocery store until he lost it in a bidding process earlier this year.

Cook, a Liberal supporter, is alleging that the corporation manipulated the scoring of his bid and is asking for a judicial review of the decision.

Michaud's client, Stacey McKinney, was the director of finance at N.B. Liquor until she was fired in June 2020. He is trying to get her reinstated

Michaud said she was terminated because of issues she raised, including financial improprieties, misstatements in financial reports and questionable expense claims.

Cook's lawyer Erica Brown wrote in court filings last week that McKinney has "alarming new information" that "directly contradicts" what N.B. Liquor has said so far in the Hartland case. 

Brown told reporters it's "mostly in relation to rules, policies, procedures and bylaws that aren't being followed in a general sense." 

N.B. Liquor lawyer Clarence Bennett argued to Justice Hugh McLellan on Tuesday morning that McKinney has no standing in the case.

He also pointed out she was no longer at the corporation when the Hartland decision happened, so could not have any information about it.

He also tried to persuade the judge Michaud should not be able to represent her at the hearing.

"There is nothing before you that suggests his client is a whistleblower," Bennett argued. "I have not been provided with any evidence that suggests in any way a whistle was blown." 

He said McKinney's lawyers have been threatening since March to invoke the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which sets out a process for whistleblower status, but "it's never come to fruition. … It never materializes."

Michaud said that while McKinney was fired before the Hartland bidding process, her evidence is relevant because it will reveal a pattern of behaviour at the corporation.

And he said she did file a complaint last Thursday with the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board to contest her firing, invoking the legislation and asking for whistleblower status.

Brown argued the judicial review Cook is seeking should be put on hold until the labour board determines McKinney's status.

"We need to be able to put fulsome and complete materials before this court," she said. "It's the only way to do this right. … It's our position we can't proceed further today." 

McLellan agreed and adjourned the case until sometime next spring after the labour board rules.

Name disclosure violates rights, lawyer says

During Tuesday's hearing, Michaud complained that N.B. Liquor had violated McKinney's rights by disclosing her name, her health information and her grievance in a court filing last week.

Bennett responded that it was Michaud and Brown who decided in court filings last week to bring up McKinney's information, without naming her. "She was inserted into this proceeding by them," he said.

Outside the court, Cook told reporters that the delay in the case didn't bother him. 

"If it gets the information out to the public, it's going to be in my favour because we all know it wasn't done properly," he said.

"I can wait, as long as I know it's been handled properly."

Michaud said McKinney is "extremely disappointed to the point of being distraught" about being named in N.B. Liquor's filings but says she remains hopeful she can win her job back.

He said she tried to raise her concerns with the audit committee of the N.B. Liquor board only to be rebuffed. 

"She wants to be able to be reinstated," he said. "She is a team player. She still loves the organization … [but] it needs to be cleaned up. We want to clean up the swamp, from what I understand."

During the hearing, Michaud said that "there is other information. I'm sitting on information too." He said as a former appointed member and vice-chair of the N.B. Liquor board, "I know things."

N.B. Liquor has not commented on the case to the media. CEO Lori Stickles attended the hearing Tuesday but did not speak to reporters.