Ex-Region GM files lawsuit for more than $850,000
Chris Carter statement also asks Niagara to pay his job-search and relocation costs in
Niagara Region’s former general manager is suing his former employer for more than $850,000, says a statement of claim obtained by The Standard.
Chris Carter, who was hired in May 2017, was one of four key managers fired by acting chief administrative officer Ron Tripp on Dec. 17, 2018. The managers were all linked to controversial events and politicians during the past term of regional council as well as ex-CAO Carmen D’Angelo, whose hiring is under investigation by the Ontario Ombudsman.
Carter is seeking $450,000 in damages for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal, $150,000 for moral damages for bad faith conduct post-dismissal, $150,000 for bad faith conduct post-dismissal, $100,000 in punitive and aggravated damages, and $25,000 for intentional infliction of mental suffering.
Carter is also asking the court to make the municipality pay for expenses he incurs in a job search and any relocation costs, as well as court costs, interest and taxes.
The claims in Carter’s lawsuit have yet to be proven in court. Efforts to reach Carter Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Carter’s statement of claim was filed Feb. 1 at the Welland courthouse through his lawyer, Civita Gauley, of Lancaster, Brooks, and Welch.
Carter was making an annual base salary of $194,000 at the Region, with a taxable car allowance of $7,800 and four weeks’ paid vacation. He was also entitled to two additional weeks of vacation in lieu of overtime.
The lawsuit calls Carter’s termination “an awkward and poorly conceived attempt to remedy the lack of public trust at the Region by terminating him along with other well-known D’Angelo hires.”
The statement of claim says the Region improperly allowed Carter to be the face of controversial events — particularly the illegal seizure of a Standard reporter’s belongings and his removal from a public council meeting.
Carter was serving as chief administrative officer in West Lincoln when he applied for the position of deputy chief administrative officer at the Region. On April 27, 2017, Carter was notified he was the successful candidate, but the position had changed to that of general manager.
In the lawsuit, Carter accuses the Region of intentionally and recklessly causing him mental and emotional distress. He says the Region’s bad-faith conduct caused him humiliation, loss of reputation, dignity, self-esteem and pride, which in turn hurts his effort to make a living. Read Carter’s full statement of claim on our website