UPDATE, 10/22: Hazel Lambe’s Attorney William Watson sent a statement to My Bancroft Now: “Cunningham, Swan (The Town and Paul Jenkins’ lawyers) in Kingston have filed a Notice of Intent some time ago to confirm for Ms. Lambe that they will be acting on behalf of Bancroft and Jenkins who is also named in the action and have asked if Ms. Lambe would agree to extend the time for the said lawyers to investigate and file any responding material.” The statement continues, “Ms. Lambe has generously agreed to extend the time for filing any responding material until November 12th to allow Cunningham Swan to fully investigate the claims and be in a position to file any responding material they might wish.”
A notice of intent to defend was filed by Mayor Paul Jenkins and the Town.
That means they have 10 days to file a statement of defence in regards to the statement of claim filed against them by former Bancroft CAO Hazel Lambe. They filed on the 16th, which means they have until the 26th to file a statement of defence.
In Lambe’s statement of claim, she stated that she’s seeking $600,000 from the Mayor and the Town for wrongful dismissal. The 16-page document accused members of council of bypassing her office to deal directly with staff. She alleged this led to a decline in staff and council relationships. Lambe’s statement also accused council of circumventing procedural by-law when councillors moved to restructure her position that led to her dismissal. The statement also noted that Lambe was opposed to the reorganization of the Town’s structure because of the costs associated with it. In total, there were over 80 allegations included in the statement of claim that was filed on September 26th.
Originally, Mayor Paul Jenkins and the Town had 20 days from the day the statement of claim was filed to submit a statement of defence.