The City of Nanaimo has responded to a civil claim around breach of contract by arguing that the municipality didn’t engage in “high-handed” behaviour when it fired a senior manager last year.
Rod Davidson, the former manager of bylaw, regulation and security, filed notice of civil claim against the City of Nanaimo in B.C. Supreme Court last month, claiming that the city breached its contractual obligations when it fired him without cause.
Davidson’s position was axed last September as part of an ongoing restructuring effort under Tracy Samra, the city’s chief administrative officer.
In his civil claim, Davidson alleged that when he was first hired by the city back in 2012, there was an agreement to allow him to “work out his last five to six years” in Nanaimo.
Davidson’s claim alleges that he was fired less than three months before his five-year anniversary and that if he reached that date, his monthly pension benefits would have increased. His claim also alleges that he suffered and continues to suffer financial damages as a result of the city’s actions.
However, the city says Davidson didn’t suffer any losses or damages when he was fired last year, according to a response to the claim filed earlier this month.
Although the city denies that Davidson was wrongfully dismissed, it does acknowledge that he was fired without notice or cause. It claims that Davidson was given six months’ pay in addition to the vacation pay and “outstanding earned wages” already given to him, according to the response.
The city, which is seeking to have the case thrown out, argued that it didn’t act in “bad faith” or engage in “high-handed, callous, insensitive, arrogant or misleading behaviour” toward Davidson. The city claims that if Davidson did suffer any damages or loss, which it denies, then it was because he failed to take “reasonable steps” to mitigate any losses or damages.
Davidson received $52,046 in severance according to a city document obtained by the News Bulletin under a freedom of information request.
The city has hired Harris and Company LLP, a Vancouver-based law firm.
nicholas.pescod@nanaimobulletin.com
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