Named in the lawsuit are councillors Brian Swanson, Scott McMann and Crystal Froese as well as former Mosaic Place CEO Ted Schaeffer.
Edge is suing for wrongful dismissal, damages and lawyer fees.
The lawsuit says Swanson, McMann, Froese and Schaeffer “had a responsibility to be aware of the internal policies created by DFFH and they failed to learn or engage those policies.”
Edge was the general manager of Mosaic Place and Yara Centre for just over five months before he was fired by the DFFH board in May of 2018.
At the time, no information was released as to why Edge was fired. In the lawsuit, it said the reason given was for “incompatibility with staff.”
Edge claims in the lawsuit he was fired “for reporting verbal and sexual harassment by an abusive employee.”
During this time, the DFFH was riddled with scandals.
In the lawsuit, Edge claims he received a complaint of verbal and sexual harassment against DFFH director of operations Myles Fister shortly after he was hired and launched an internal investigation and notified the city’s human resources department.
The lawsuit says eight women would eventually make allegations against Fister.
According to the lawsuit, Edge brought his concerns to the board during an “emergency meeting” attended by Schaeffer, Swanson, Froese and McMann. Edge recommended Fister to be fired and his actions reported to police at that meeting, but the board was split and no action was taken.
A report to city council in 2018 stated that private meetings were held, where no records were taken and also indicated that there were gaps of information for meetings where notes were taken.
The report says the board failed to provide support and give direction to the General Manager with Board Chair Swanson telling Edge that no actions were to be taken without direction from the board. Coun. Froese then sought advice from the City's Human Resources Department, who suggested an external investigation, but the board didn't act on the advice.
Shortly after, a staff meeting was held at the DFFH and educational programming was ordered. The next month Edge was fired. In the days that followed, according to the report, personal files were taken from his office by Coun. Swanson.
In early July of 2018, there was a tip to the mayor from an unidentified source regarding the unaddressed complaints, prompting the external investigation and leading to the missing files being turned over to Swanson's personal lawyer before being returned to City Hall.
The councillors were reprimanded by city council at the time for their actions.
Following the sanctions in 2018, Froese did voice her regret for not following procedures, while Swanson has denied any wrongdoing.
The three councillors have not commented about the lawsuit as it is before the courts.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie released the following statement on Friday:
“The City was thorough in its response at the time of the investigation and Council acted within the full extent of our authority under the Cities Act. I cannot comment any further as the matter is now before the courts.”
The DFFH board was dissolved in 2018 for the second time. The first time was in 2016 over mismanagement.
The lawsuit says Edge is seeking damages for loss of wages, loss of pension, “irreparable harm” to his reputation, suppressing “rampant verbal and sexual harassment in the workplace” and treatment towards him before and after his firing.
Statements of defence have not been filed yet.
Sun, May 19, 12:00 AM
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