Ex-Brampton mayor Susan Fennell gets back forfeited wages

City council settles legal dispute with ex-mayor over pay withheld for spending and code of conduct violations. She drops bid for damages.

Thestar.com
May 6, 2015
By San Grewal

Brampton city council has agreed to release about $182,000 back to former mayor Susan Fennell that had been withheld after she was found to have broken city spending rules hundreds of times.

The settlement brings to an end legal action by Fennell, who filed an application for a judicial review in December in a bid to get back the withheld pay, plus $450,000 in damages and legal costs.

"We believe that the City of Brampton has settled this matter on terms that are fair to all parties," Mayor Linda Jeffrey stated in a joint release by the city and Fennell on Wednesday.

Fennell could not be reached for comment, but in the joint release she stated, "Finally the people of Brampton can see the truth."

Jeffrey said council's decision, after a vote was taken behind closed doors, was influenced by a report last year from arbitrator Janet Leiper, who was hired after Fennell threatened legal action against auditor Deloitte Canada.

Deloitte, which conducted a forensic audit ordered by city council, found Fennell and her staff had broken spending rules 266 times over seven years, with transactions totalling $172,608. It found that an additional 79 transactions for $156,000 may have violated the rules, but a determination could not be made because she had not provided sufficient documentation.

Council subsequently decided in November to dock Fennell 90 days’ pay, about $38,000, for violating the code of conduct, the harshest penalty available under the law, as well as $144,150 for limo services that she could not prove were used for city business.

When Deloitte withdrew its services after Fennell threatened a separate legal action, Leiper took over to arbitrate the monetary settlement and eventually lowered the expected repayment amount from about $34,000 to $3,500, a decision Fennell declared to be a vindication.

The joint release states that, “This council accepts Ms. Leiper’s findings and considers that Ms. Leiper’s findings supersede all findings in previous reports on the same issues,” and that the council’s resolution to dock pay was “inconsistent” with her findings.

Brampton Integrity Commissioner Robert Swayze, who triggered the council decision to strip Fennell of 90 days’ pay when he ruled in September that she "knowingly" violated the city's code of conduct, said Wednesday's settlement decision has no bearing on his ruling.

"I understood that the settlement was coming forward. I've confirmed my report and I still stand by it. Miss Leiper was hired not as an integrity commissioner, she was hired as an arbitrator. She was dealing with amounts to be paid. It's a settlement, and Miss Leiper was an arbitrator, and it doesn't impact my report."

A council watchdog group called Citizens For a Better Brampton responded with outrage on Wednesday.

"So, here is the message to Brampton taxpayers,” said group spokesperson Chris Bejnar: “The same person we kicked out of office - who could only get 12 per cent of the vote because of all the damage she did to this city while she travelled the world first-class on our backs, breaking hundreds of spending rules, who the integrity commissioner found 'knowingly' ignored the code of conduct - will not be punished financially or have to pay back unproven limousine use.

“All because she hired lawyers to threaten the city with legal action," Bejnar said.

"Remember, council told her that she wouldn't have to pay back the $144,000 for the limo use if she could just come up with the invoices or any documentation that shows what she used the limousine for. Council gave her that option. But she couldn't, so she threatened legal action to get an extra $450,000 from the taxpayers of Brampton.

And it worked. I'm sure she has a big smile on her face."