CPS seeks injunction against ex-hr director
Angela Whitney's `inappropriate posts' in breach of agreement, says police force
The former director of human resources with the Calgary Police Service has been making inappropriate online posts in violation of a resignation agreement, a lawsuit claims.
CPS is seeking a permanent injunction barring Angela Whitney “from making any further inappropriate posts or interviews in breach of the agreement.”
The police force, through the office of the chief as its legal representative, is also seeking an order that all comments by Whitney that breached the agreement “be removed from all social media platforms and media coverage.”
Their statement of claim filed last week alleges Whitney — who resigned on June 15, 2021, and was given a severance payment in excess of $60,000 — began posting on social media last month information that breached the agreement.
“Given the sensitive nature of the information that Ms. Whitney had access to about the employees of the CPS as a result of her role as director of HR, the agreement included standard confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses,” it says.
Those clauses included Whitney agreeing “that she has taken and will in the future continue to take all appropriate precautions to safeguard such confidential and proprietary information,” it states.
She also pledged “not to make any public statement, including by way of social media or any other form of media statement, which may slander, defame or disparage the reputation or operations of the CPS, or any of its directors, officers or employees, unless required by law.”
“On or about Feb. 8, 2024, nearly three years after the execution of the agreement, and in breach of the agreement and her common-law duties, Ms. Whitney began consistently posting on social media platforms including X (formerly known as Twitter) and Linkedin, numerous inappropriate posts about the CPS,” the claim says.
Among the breaches of the agreement, the lawsuit claims, was Whitney posting “an open letter to Calgarians outlining alleged experiences at the CPS, including being bullied, targeted, threatened and discriminated against.”
Whitney also “posted a letter to Calgarians detailing an incident in which she alleges that a sex toy was thrown in someone's face during a meeting, and the ensuring HR investigation and its outcome.”
Along with the posts, Whitney was also quoted in a news media report in which she “said she received complaints from LGBTQ2S+ officers who felt discriminated against while in the workplace,” among other comments, the claim states.
A statement of defence in reply to the unproven allegations in the CPS claim has not been filed.