The wrongful dismissal trial of the town's former chief administrative officer Roy Brown has been set for April 28 in Didsbury before a provincial court judge.
Brown plans to call four witnesses and the town plans to call 10, according to his statement of claim and the Town of Didsbury's dispute note.
Brown's statement of claim and the town's dispute notice made in response to the statement of claim contain statements that have not been proven in court.
In his statement of claim filed on Dec. 15, 2015 in provincial court of Alberta (civil) -- small claims court – and reported in the Didsbury Review Jan. 19, Brown states his employment contract with the town could only be terminated with four months' notice, but he was summarily terminated effective Nov. 24.
Brown is claiming $56,666.67 for wrongful termination, $5,000 for lost benefits and $25,000 for aggravated and/ or punitive damages, plus interest, and “abandons that part of the claim that exceeds the financial jurisdiction of the court.” A provincial court of Alberta (civil) judgment is limited to $50,000.
In its Dispute Note in response to the statement of claim, the Town of Didsbury states that Brown left the town office during a meeting in June 2015 in which he was told that the town would not renew his employment contract when it expired in March 2016.
He never returned to work, notifying the town that he was on sick leave as recommended by his doctor. The town says that Brown asked the town to buy out his contract.
The town says it “formally terminated (Brown's) employment for reasons of just cause, including but not limited to:
“Dishonesty, theft and pilfering . . . insubordination, insolence and other disrespectful and disobedient conduct . . . sexual and other harassment and creation of a poisoned work environment . . . abuse of power . . . conflict of interest . . . neglect of duty . . . (and) breaching Town Policies.”
The Dispute Note states that it discovered after Brown was terminated that he had received, “an offer or notice of offer for purchase of assets of the Town valued at $6,900,000 (and) had never reported the offer to council.”
And, “he had instructed the Town's contract assessor to conduct matters in a fashion inconsistent with and in breach of the Municipal Government Act and had done so previously and in fact since 2008.”
Brown's statement of claim and the town's Dispute Notice made in response contain statements that have not been proven in court.
The Town of Didsbury is asking the court to dismiss Brown's claim.
