ALL THE CHAIR’S MEN EXCLUSIVE: D’Angelo seeks to block release of files related to CAO hiring scandal
Region lawyers say they will fight any attempted injunction in Caslin lawsuit
Former Niagara Region chief administrative officer Carmen D’Angelo is attempting to prevent the release of key evidence showing the extent of the 2016 inside job orchestrated to get him the lucrative job sought by regional government in its lawsuit against former regional chair Alan Caslin, the Standard has learned.
According to multiple sources familiar with the lawsuit, the Region has asked the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to turn over at least 10 documents saved by D’Angelo to the agency’s servers while he worked there prior to taking the regional CAO position.
Those documents include secret memos containing privileged information about CAO candidates, drafts of confidential government reports and answers to interview questions. Many of those documents were created by Caslin’s staff before and during the 2016 hiring process, and a few were written by D’Angelo.
Those documents — first uncovered and published by the Standard and later used as key evidence in an Ontario ombudsman’s investigation — link D’Angelo and Caslin’s office to the plot to secure the CAO position for D’Angelo.
In February, months after the ombudsman found the hiring was an “inside job” orchestrated from within Caslin’s office and involving other now-former regional councillors, the current regional council filed a $850,000 lawsuit against Caslin and his chief lieutenants — his then policy director Robert D’Amboise and then communications director Jason Tamming.
The Region alleges the trio were engaged in an “unlawful conspiracy” to hire D’Angelo. The Region’s statement of claim directly references the contents of many of those documents.
“Mr. Caslin committed misfeasance in a public office and/or abuse of public office in his position as regional chair,” says the Region’s claim. “The Region has suffered significant reputational harm and monetary damages as a result of the defendant’s concerted efforts.”
The Region’s claims have not been proven in court.
Caslin, Tamming and D’Amboise, who have formed a joint legal defence, had until March 21 to file their statement of defence. Failing to file the statement in a civil lawsuit can allow a judge to render a summary decision.
However, the trio asked for more time given the COVID-19 pandemic and requested the documents from the Region.
Multiple sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss legal issues, said the Region attempted to comply with the request and asked the NPCA for the documents.
The conservation authority said it would hand over the materials, but requested the Region get a court order that would compel the agency to do so.
At a closed-door meeting of council Thursday afternoon, councillors were told by the Region’s legal team handling the case that D’Angelo is threatening to seek a court injunction that would keep the documents sealed in the NPCA servers.
Councillors were told the Region would challenge any attempted injunction and may sue D’Angelo for legal costs.
Although D’Angelo’s name does appear in the Caslin lawsuit, he is not listed as a defendant. However, D’Angelo did file a $1.15-million constructive dismissal suit against Niagara Region after he quit his job last year.
More recently, D’Angelo has asked the Region to settle for around $500,000 — an offer soundly rejected by most of regional council.
In its statement of defence, the Region asks the court to dismiss the lawsuit and award the government legal costs.
Copies of the documents D’Angelo is seeking to keep under wraps have all been published by the Standard over the course of more than two years of investigative reporting, and exposes the depths of the plan to get him the job of regional CAO.
The earliest document, dated to December 2015, is a detailed spreadsheet that lays out D’Angelo’s plan to replace then regional CAO Harry Schlange.
The plan included a date for Schlange’s firing and a May 6, 2016, hiring date for D’Angleo.
That plan was delayed when Caslin failed to acquire the power from council to fire Schlange, who left the Region later in the year to take a job in Brampton. D’Angelo was hired in October 2016 after creating or downloading the 10 documents.
Other documents included biographical information on other CAO contenders no candidate should have in memos created by D’Amboise, answers to a written submission for the hiring committee Caslin chaired created by Tamming, along with interview questions and answers.
D’Angelo never denied receiving the documents, but often said he could not recall if he did.
In a July 2018 closed-door council meeting, D’Angelo told councillors he did not remember receiving the files and said if he did get them, there was nothing useful he could do with them.
However, under questioning from Ontario ombudsman investigators last year, D’Angelo said if he did them, he got them from Caslin’s men.
In addition to the lawsuit, the key actors in the CAO hiring scandal also face a potential criminal investigation.
The Ontario Provincial Police anti-racketeering unit is reviewing the ombudsman report to determine if a full criminal investigation is warranted.