One Greater Sudbury city councillor says he's been found guilty of workplace harassment by an investigator hired by city council, while another city councillor and two citizens were exonerated of the same accusation.
Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier said he was found guilty because he used the words “empire building” at a public meeting in referring to the city's controversial and unpopular Fire Optimization Plan (FOP) proposal.
“I'm a little upset,” said Montpellier, who was an outspoken critic of the plan. “I don't know what more to say. I've actually wasted a lot of my time preparing my defence and so forth.
“I don't know how to say this, but I could probably live with a more serious crime. To say I'm guilty of using the words 'empire builders' is so trivial to me that it really has a hard time sinking in.”
Montpellier, along with Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini, was the subject of a complaint by the city's full-time firefighters union.
The complaint alleges the pair harassed former fire chief Trevor Bain last year after he presented the FOP proposal, which was ultimately rejected by city council.
The harassment complaint was filed by the Sudbury Professional Fire Fighters Association on Bain's behalf.
Union President Kris Volpel has said the union first complained to the city last March regarding the actions of some councillors toward Bain during the fire optimization meetings.
In October, the Ministry of Labour directed Greater Sudbury to investigate the complaint, to keep all documents relevant to the case and to ensure training requirements are adhered to.
City council hired an outside investigator to conduct the probe.
At a Tuesday press conference, Montpellier and Vagnini revealed what they've found out about the results of that four-month investigation.
Vagnini said he and two citizens also targeted by the investigation — Tom Price, who's his adviser, and Ward 2 constituent Travis Morgan — were exonerated of accusations of harassment.
“I've got to tell you there is a relief in that,” he said.
The full report into the workplace harassment investigation will be revealed at an in-camera meeting this evening, the councillors said.
However, they say they don't think they'll be able to read the report, even though it pertains to their behaviour.
The councillors also say they recently received a letter from the Ministry of Labour, saying workplace harassment legislation does not apply to elected officials or private citizens.
They did not share the letter with media, saying they'd been asked by the ministry not to.
Vagnini said he'd like more clarification on the issue, adding he'd like to get the MOL official who ordered the investigation and the MOL official that said the legislation doesn't apply in this case in the same room.
“And let's ask them,” he said.
