A senior lawyer’s employment lawsuit against the Alberta Human Rights Commission has exposed both a deep dysfunction and a no-holds-barred power struggle within the organization.
In a statement of claim filed in November, Audrey Dean alleges she was harassed and undermined by the commission and its director, Don Smallwood, until she eventually chose not to return to work in the fall of 2015. She was the commission’s senior legal counsel.
But court documents show Alberta Justice countered Dean’s lawsuit with an aggressive statement of defence that contains serious allegations of insubordination, and financial and human resources mismanagement. The human rights commission falls under the jurisdiction of Alberta Justice.
The statement of defence also lists serious allegations, including improper expense claims and unapproved outside work, against Dean’s subordinate, former human rights commission lawyer Arman Chak.
Chak was fired by the commission in 2014 and is suing the human rights commission for wrongful dismissal. (The statement of defence only refers to “AC,” but Chak has confirmed to CBC News it refers to him.)
The lawsuit and statement of defence reveal a history of friction and dysfunction that appears to have begun sometime after Smallwood was appointed director of the commission in 2012.
Unfair criticism
Smallwood had been director of business services within Alberta Justice before taking over from Dean, who had been interim director.
“He began a campaign of administrative oversight over Dean and became unfairly critical of Dean’s work performance,” Dean alleges in her lawsuit. It claims Dean received a series of “unfair and unreasonable” performance evaluations and was wrongly accused of approving improper travel and living expenses for Chak.
Much of Dean’s lawsuit and the commission’s statement of defence centre around her support and oversight of Chak, who was fired with cause in November 2014 while Dean was on medical leave.
The Alberta Human Rights Commission has accused lawyer Arman Chak of improperly claiming expenses and misusing office resources. Chak has denied the allegations. (CBC News)
Dean, who was Chak’s supervisor, was not consulted about his firing. She swore an affidavit in support of his lawsuit, saying she wanted the legal community to know she had nothing to do with his “unfair and irrational termination of employment.”
Her lawsuit alleges that after she swore the affidavit she was told she “improperly gave evidence in a judicial proceeding against the (commission) and was therefore in breach of fiduciary obligations.
“Smallwood further indicated that she should report herself to the Law Society for discipline.”
Dean’s lawsuit says she was eventually encouraged to resign and instead become a commissioner of the organization, even though she says this would have created at least an appearance of bias for the commission. Her lawsuit alleges this was “subterfuge to push Dean out of her job.”
Oversight problems
But the commission’s statement of defence claims there were several problems with Dean’s oversight of Chak that finally forced the commission to strip her of both her supervisory and financial oversight duties in July 2015.
It claims she had approved “numerous ineligible, inaccurate, or inappropriate expense claims” for Chak, including one expense of more than $900 that Chak had to repay. The statement of defence also alleges Dean failed to ensure Chak accurately recorded his vacation and sick leaves, resulting in overpayments, and did not prevent his unauthorized use of work time and resources “for activities and purchases outside the course of his employment.”
The commission further alleges Chak breached the government’s policy around providing pro bono (free) legal services and did not work full-time hours as required. It claims Dean should have prevented these behaviours.
The statement of defence says Dean undermined Smallwood and failed to respect his authority. It cites an alleged September 2014 incident in which Dean met with Smallwood’s direct supervisor without his knowledge.
“(Dean) attempted to discredit Smallwood and change the reporting structure for legal officers including herself, to eliminate Smallwood from that structure,” the statement of defence states, adding that this “was a direct attempt to discredit and undermine Smallwood.”
The commission claims Dean did not return to work from medical leave on the agreed-upon date and therefore “abandoned” her position.
Conversely, Dean’s lawsuit alleges her mistreatment forced her to leave the commission, “when Dean could no longer tolerate such conduct and such actions were treated as a constructive dismissal.” She had worked for the Alberta government for 35 years.
Dean is seeking two years’ salary and benefits that she says she would have received if given proper notice. The provincial government’s sunshine list shows Dean’s total compensation in 2014 was nearly $180,000.
None of the allegations in the statements of claim or defence has been proven in court.
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