The Alberta government has denied any wrongdoing in what it calls a wrongful dismissal lawsuit based on “false or misleading allegations” from former Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos.
Alberta’s Minister of Justice Mickey Amery posted the statement of defence to X on Thursday. The province asserted in its statement that Mentzelopoulos’ termination was due to performance failures, not retaliation for investigating AHS procurement practices.
Amery said that the facts presented in the documents can answer any further questions.
“We will resolutely defend against the unproven allegations raised in this matter,” he said.
The provincial government said that Mentzelopoulos hired an independent investigator of her own to investigate procurement processes of AHS—an entity which she herself was hired to lead—but the investigator failed to find any wrongdoing.
“Presumably to try and leverage her position to extract a large payday, the Plaintiff has filled her claim with various allegations of impropriety, interspersed with claims of political intrigue aimed at numerous individuals within and outside government, without any regard for the effect of her attacks on them,” reads the statement of defence.
The provincial government revealed that Mentzelopoulos had nothing to report on following the intensive investigations but that she had allegedly become “obsessed and infatuated” with her suspicions that she failed to do the job she was tasked with — Alberta’s healthcare refocus.
“In the end, the Plaintiff was fired because she couldn’t do her job despite having been given many opportunities to do so,” reads the statement.
The province claims that her firing followed “months of mounting frustration with the Plaintiff’s inability to advance important policy objectives that AHS was required to advance.”
Her performance issues were allegedly compounded by personality conflicts with senior officials, per the statement. It also cited an example of Mentzelopoulos allegedly calling a senior official a “f**king twat” for explaining elements of the healthcare refocus and other instances of her allegedly verbally berating government officials.
Mentzelopoulos was fired just days before she was scheduled to meet with Auditor General Doug Wylie.
However, the province’s statement of defence claims that these events were not connected, as Mentzelopoulos had not even disclosed the meeting to anyone in the province.
“To ensure that the allegations are reviewed properly and independently, the Province has appointed an eminent and retired judge to lead a third-party investigation into the procurement processes used by the Province and AHS. For complete transparency, the final report will be made public,” reads the statement.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith previously denied any wrongdoing.
“As Premier, I was not involved in any wrongdoing. Any insinuation to the contrary is false, baseless and defamatory,” she said.
Alberta’s former minister of infrastructure Peter Guthrie previously resigned from cabinet after citing concerns over the government’s procurement practices.
The province’s statement of defence also claims that Mentzelopoulos was not employed by the province, but by AHS. Therefore, the province cannot have breached a contract that did not exist. The statement of defence claims that Mentzelopoulos was provided with adequate notice, or pay in lieu of notice, of the termination of her employment by AHS.
“The Plaintiff is not entitled to any further compensation, benefits, or other payments arising from the conclusion of her employment. Filling her Statement of Claim with allegations of political intrigue and half-truths does not change that,” reads the statement.
The province is requesting the court dismiss the lawsuit and order Mentzelopoulos to pay for the government’s legal costs due to her “incendiary allegations.”
The Auditor General’s review into AHS procurement remains ongoing, with findings expected to be tabled in the Alberta Legislature.
This is a developing story.