The City of Mount Pearl has responded to allegations from Steve Kent that his privacy, and that of others, was breached by city officials.
The claim is part of a lawsuit filed by the former Chief Administrative Officer who resigned after being informed that notice of motion would be brought forward seeking his dismissal for just cause.
Kent filed a statement of claim against the city for constructive dismissal and breach of privacy. He claims his personal Facebook messages were accessed through an iPad left in his office.
Read today’s statement from the City of Mount Pearl at this link.
The City says Kent’s logged-in Facebook Messenger account was found on the city-owned iPad through banner notifications on the scene, which was left unlocked. The City says the full messages were available without any need for a password.
In a statement issued today, the City says it “became obvious” that there was continuous communication by Kent related to the harassment investigation and other city-related issues that it says “would be considered inappropriate behaviour of someone currently under investigation.”
The City states that neither the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, nor Acting Director of Corporate Services had access to the iPad or Messenger account.
Earlier Story
The former CAO with the city of Mount Pearl has resigned and filed a lawsuit against his former employer nine months after taking a leave of absence amid allegations of harassment and bullying behaviour.
Steve Kent issued a statement of claim against the city for constructive dismissal and breach of privacy.
In a statement issued yesterday, the city says Kent was notified on June 16 of a motion to dismiss him for just cause. The motion was to be presented before a public council meeting on June 30.
The City says the reasons included “numerous breaches under the Employee Code of Conduct Policy” and what Mount Pearl calls “serious allegations of misconduct” detailed in the letter he received from council.
Those allegations are outside the ongoing harassment investigation launched following Kent’s leave of absence last fall, according to the city statement.
Left No Choice, says Kent
Kent says after nine months, he was left with “no choice” but to file the lawsuit. He says he’s never had an issue brought forward before now concerning his conduct.
Kent claims the complaints brought against him stem from issues he uncovered in his job as CAO that needed to be addressed. He says he could not “sit idly by” when he saw “some of what was happening.” He believes he knows who initiated the complaints.
He has filed an Access to Information Request seeking information on the allegations made against him, which were denied by the city and investigator.
He denies that he has not been willing to cooperate with an ongoing review into alleged harassment and bullying.
He claims the Mayor and Deputy Mayor know the truth and have not been willing to challenge public statements. He says he’s had to fight to get access to the two complaints against him, and to get information from the interviews conducted to prepare a response.
Kent is a former provincial government minister responsible for Access to Information.