Whistleblowers Commence Action Against Government of Prince Edward Island and Former Ministers

TORONTO, June 11, 2019 /CNW/ - John Kingman Phillips of the law firm, Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation, announced the filing of legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island against the Government of Prince Edward Island, Robert Ghiz, Allan Campbell, and Michael Mayne.  The plaintiffs, Susan Holmes, Cora Plourd Nicholson, and Svetlana Tenetko acted as whistleblowers by exposing wrongdoing in the Island's sponsorship program.  The claim alleges that the defendants retaliated against the plaintiffs by, amongst other actions, wrongfully disclosing personal information about the plaintiffs to discredit them.  The Island's Privacy Commissioner substantiated the wrongful disclosure and found that the Government of Prince Edward Island was directly or indirectly responsible for the breach of the plaintiffs' privacy rights.  The claim seeks damages in an amount in excess of $1.8 million.

The claim, filed yesterday, is related to a previously filed claim, issued in February 2019.  Rather than attempting to resolve the case at the time or proceed with litigation, the Government and Government-related defendants demanded notice under provincial legislation and necessitated this new filing.

Susan Holmes, one of the plaintiffs, stated: "We were very disappointed that the Government did not hold itself immediately accountable, particularly given the Commissioner's findings, and the damage that was done to our lives and careers.  Further, in light of the historical destruction of emails and records by the PEI government in other cases before the courts, it became necessary to file this action as quickly as possible after the notice period.  We expect the Government of PEI to ensure that emails and records regarding this litigation are preserved and that no further destruction of evidence in any other court cases will occur again."

The filed Statement of Claim has been posted on the Waddell Phillips website: waddellphillips.ca   

SOURCE Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation

John Kingman Phillips, [phone], [email protected]

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