Former Sask. Highway Patrol chief suing government for wrongful dismissal

The former chief of Saskatchewan's Highway Patrol is suing the government for wrongful dismissal.

The provincial auditor examined purchasing by the highway patrol (SHP) in her most recent report, released last week.

The auditor found the SHP made "questionable purchases" including silencers, a drone and a high-power rifle scope. 

On Thursday, the Minister of Highways Greg Ottenbreit confirmed the former chief was responsible for purchasing the "improper equipment," which was not needed by the SHP.

On Friday, the government confirmed Robin Litzenberger was the chief in question and had been fired.

Litzenberger was fired in October 2019 after an investigation. At the time of his termination, Litzenberger was paid an annual salary of $144,000.

In December, Litzenberger filed a statement of claim saying the allegations in his termination letter were "false, improper and unsubstantiated."

According to Litzenberger's claim, the letter of termination said he "failed to maintain the standard of conduct expected."

The statement of claim said he had "an unblemished work history" and received a service excellence award in 2019.

It said he was fired "without notice, without pay in lieu of notice and purportedly for just cause."

Litzenberger is seeking damages including salary, benefits and legal costs for the "wrongful dismissal."

The claim also said Litzenberger was in poor health and the government knew by firing him it would "inflict mental distress."

"As a result of the conduct of the Defendant, the Plaintiff suffered stress, anxiety, frustration, mental distress, embarrassment, repetitional damage and loss of enjoyment of life," the claim said.

Litzenberger spent 17 years as an employee of the provincial government.

• From 2009 to 2011 he was manager of professional standards and quality assurance with the Ministry of Highways.
• In 2011, he joined the Global Transportation Hub and worked as executive director of planning, operations and public safety.
• In 2016, he became the director of commercial vehicle enforcement. That body transitioned into the SHP in 2019 and Litzenberger was named chief.

Statement of defence 

The government's statement of defence "denies each and every allegation" in the statement of claim.

It said "allegations of misconduct" came to the ministry's attention in June 2019. Litzenberger was placed on administrative leave with pay in July 2019.

The government said the investigation found:

• Inventory expenditures inconsistent with mandate.
• Failure to follow procurement policy.
• Splitting purchases between multiple invoices.
• Improper leadership and management behaviors.
• Dishonest conduct.

The government said it provided Litzenberger with the details of the investigation and he was later fired for "just cause."

"The Plaintiff failed to model the behaviours of professionalism; utilize good judgment; conduct himself with honesty and uphold the core values and code of conduct expected of a senior manager in the public service," the statement of defence said.

The statement said that during the investigation Litzenberger acknowledged he was not following the province's financial management and administration policies, but that he signed a letter in June 2019 "stating he was not aware of any misconduct on his part related to these policies."

The government said Litzenberger "did not raise health concerns" while he was employed and "did not advance health issues impacting his ability to work" until after he was placed on leave.

It said its conduct in firing Litzenberger "was neither malicious nor high-handed." 

"[Litzenberger] was treated fairly and respectfully and any injury to his reputation is the result of his own misconduct," the government said in its statement.

It said the claim by Litzenberger should be dismissed.

Silencers, fully automatic rifles among guns purchased

Following employee complaints, the Ministry of Highways conducted two independent investigations of purchases made by the SHP between September 2017 and August 2019.

It then asked the Provincial Auditor Judy Ferguson to study purchases made by the SHP.

In her report. Ferguson says the highways ministry found itself the owner of various firearms and other weapons that are not included in the Municipal Police Equipment Regulations.

The items include:

• Three nine-millimetre pistols.
• Two fully automatic rifles.
• One AR-10 carbine.
• Twelve suppressors (silencers).

Ferguson said in the report that, "the ministry advises us legislation allows (it) to possess these firearms and weapons for training purposes even though it cannot use them in its highway patrol duties."

The auditor's investigation found the SHP was using purchasing cards to make "questionable purchases that did not have sufficient support to demonstrate business need or alignment with the Ministry's first responder responsibilities."

The purchases included: 

• Certain firearms and ammunition.
• Suppressors (silencers).
• Drug test kits.
• A drone.
• A high-power rifle scope.

The report also says the deputy minister "specifically directed staff not to purchase any shotguns," but somebody bought one anyway.

"The ministry did not document a business need to buy certain types of firearms and weapons given the Highway Patrol's role as a first responder in emergency situations," the report said.

The auditor also pointed out issues with how items were purchased. The ministry said an employee was splitting transactions to avoid hitting the maximum $10,000-per-transaction that can go on a card and to "get under the threshold which competitive procurement process needs to be followed."