The town of Bancroft is firing back at former CAO Hazel Lambe. My Bancroft Now has a copy of the Town’s statement of defence against a $600,000 wrongful and constructive dismissal claim Lambe filed in late September.
My Bancroft Now detailed the allegations Lambe made in her statement of claim. You can find that story here.
In the statement of defence, the Town addresses Lambe’s allegation of wrongful dismissal. The Town says it has paid Lambe her full entitlement under her employment agreement, plus vacation and extended health, dental and vision coverage for a one month notice period.
The Town also addresses some of Lambe’s claims in her suit. The statement agrees there was stress between council and town staff over the past four years, but blame it on Lambe stating, “this was due to numerous performance issues with the Plaintiff (Lambe) who was struggling in the role of CAO.” There are 10 performance related issues cited.
In addressing Mayor Paul Jenkins’ communication with the CEO of Progressive Waste Solutions about the possible sale of the landfill the statement says that at all times, “(Paul) Jenkins operated in a transparent manner in relation to the Mayor, the Plaintiff (Lambe), and Council with respect to the landfill inquiry.”
Lambe alleged in her statement of claim that Mayor Paul Jenkins had used his Bancroft Council Calendar for personal matters, but the Town says Jenkins “operated in accordance with the directions of Bancroft’s IT staff in relation to the use of the Bancroft Council Calendar.” The statement also goes on to say, “(Paul) Jenkins believes that the Plaintiff (Lambe) was monitoring his personal email account, a Gmail account, without proper authority or his knowledge or consent. This is presumably how the Plaintiff (Lambe) became aware of the items listed in paragraph 44 of the Statement of Claim.”
The Town also addresses comments made by former Councillor Mary Kavanaugh about Fire Chief Pat Hoover becoming CAO if Kavanaugh was elected Mayor. The statement says Kavanaugh was sanctioned by Council for the statement, which “she acknowledged were ill-advised. She apologized to Council, the Plaintiff (Lambe), and Fire Chief Hoover.”
The Town also states that Lambe was aware of the reorganization at the town to move from a non-CAO model and had agreed to remain the senior staff person but her title would change and she would be responsible for writing her own job description. The Town alleges Lambe was in agreement with this.
The Town is asking that Paul Jenkins be removed from Lambe’s lawsuit as a defendant. The statement suggests it is relying on section 448(1) of the Municipal Act, which prohibits claims against members of council who are acting in good faith.
The Town says that Lambe has not proven her case for damages and calls them “excessive”. The Town has asked the court to dismiss the suit filed by Lambe and require her to pay the Town’s legal ees.
When reached for comment Lambe’s lawyer, William Watson said he would not comment on the Town’s statement of defence but would be filing a reply in the next 10 days, but considering the Town was given an extension, he may ask for one as well.