Court File No.: CV-19-00012452-0000 ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE BETWEEN: CHRISTOPHER CARTER Plaintiff ~and- NIAGARA REGION Defendant STATEMENT OF DEFENCE 1. The correct legal name of the Defendant is The Regional Municipality of Niagara (the “Region”). The Region admits the allegations in paragraphs 2, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 19, 21, 26, 36, and 51 of the Statement of Claim. 2. The Region cither denies or has no knowledge of all other allegations in the Statement of Claim and puts the Plaintiff to the strict proof thereof. BACKGROUND 3. The Region is a municipal corporation incorporated pursuant to the laws of Ontario. Its head offices are located at 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way, in the City of Thorold. 4. Christopher Carter (the “Plaintiff”) commenced his employment with the Region on or about May 24, 2017 in the position of General Manager. 5. Prior to commencing employment with the Region, the Plaintiff was employed as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Corporation of the Township of West Lincoln, a position he held for approximately 3 years. The Plaintiff was not actively recruited or encouraged by the Region to apply for the General Manager position with the Region. The Plaintiff submitted an application for the position and, following a series of interviews, the Plaintiff was offered the position by the Region. On or about May 3, 2017, the Plaintiff chose to accept the position byexecuting a written contract of employment dated May 2, 2017 (the “Employment Agreement”), THE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT 6. The Plaintiff executed the Employment Agreement prior to commencing employment with the Region on May 24, 2017. The Employment Agreement provides that, upon termination without cause, the Plaintiff is entitled to receive one month of pay for each completed year of service, with a minimum payment of 3 months and a maximum payment of 12 months. The relevant provision of the Employment Agreement states as follows: In the event the Region terminates your employment without alleging just cause, you will be provided with one month of pay for each completed year of service with a minimum payment of 3 months and a maximum payment of 12 months, In no circumstances will you receive less than your minimum entitlement to pay and benefit continuation under the Ontario Employment Standards Act. 7. Notably, the Employment Agreement does not contain any probationary period; accordingly, the Plaintiff became entitled to a minimum of 3 months’ notice of termination without cause as of May 24, 2017. 8. The Plaintiff sought to negotiate more favourable termination entitlements prior to accepting employment with the Region, and proposed a notice period of 18 or 24 months’ in the event of termination without cause. Following discussions between Paula Quinn, Manager Talent Acquisition, Carmelo D'Angelo, Chief Administrative Officer, and Franco Meffe, Associate Director of Employee Relations on May 2, 2017, the Plaintiff was offered the termination clause that he ultimately accepted — a minimum of 3 months’ notice, and a maximum of 12 months’ notice upon termination without cause. The Plaintiff executed the Employment Agreement on May 3, 2017. 9. The Region denies that Mr. D'Angelo made the representations to the Plaintiff alleged at paragraph 16 of the Statement of Claim. In April and May 2017, Linda Gigliotti was the Acting Human Resources Director for the Region. Ms Gigliotti had been appointed by Mr. D'Angelo. Ms Gigliotti was also supported by Mr. Meffe and Ms Quinn, Accordingly, in the spring of 2017, the Region employed numerous Human Resources employees who wereexperienced and occupied senior positions within the Region. These senior Human Resources employees were directly involved in negotiating and drafting the Plaintiff's Employment Contract. Additionally, contrary to the allegation at paragraph 16(b) of the Statement of Claim, in the spring of 2017, the Region did not have any plans to undertake a review of its senior leadership agreements. 10. At Mr. D’Angelo’s request, the Employment Agreement was prepared by Ms Quinn, and was reviewed by both Mr. Meffe and external counsel prior to being provided to the Plaintiff for execution. The Employment Agreement was also “carbon copied” to Roxanne Zanatta (Executive Assistant to the Chief Administrative Officer), Julie Smith (Human Resources Consultant) and “myHR” for the Region’s internal records. 11, Shortly after commencing employment with the Region, the Plaintiff contacted Mr. Meffe to discuss the termination clause in the Employment Agreement. The Plaintiff asked for clarification regarding his entitlements under the termination clause. Mr. Meffe explained that the clause provided the Plaintiff with a minimum of 3 months’ notice in the event of termination without cause, and that the Employment Contract was intended to provide the Plaintiff with some security as an employee while protecting the Region from future liability. The Plaintiff indicated that he understood the termination clause and did not request any reconsideration or amendment of same. 12, Notably, in July 2017, the Plaintiff negotiated the employment contract for Peter Wadsworth, the Region’s new Director, Human Resources, who commenced employment with the Region on or about September 5, 2017. Mr. Wadsworth’s offer of employment contained a similar termination clause to that found in the Plaintiff's Employment Agreement, and Mr. Wadsworth sought to have that termination clause deleted. The Plaintiff insisted that the termination clause remain in Mr. Wadsworth’s employment contract, and the employment contract was ultimately executed by Mr. Wadsworth on or about July 26, 2017.