In the chaotic days before his career as the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority chief administrative officer ended — days marked by firings, closed-door meetings, and a rehiring — Mark Brickell was asked to make a choice.

"What's more important to you," then-NPCA chair Sandy Annunziata asked Brickell. "Money or your reputation?"

According to a statement of claim filed in a Welland court Thursday, Annunziata asked the question after telling Brickell there were rumours about him spreading on social media. Annunziata wanted Brickell to resign or be fired.

Brickell refused to resign without negotiating terms of his exit. Annunziata insisted a deal could be hammered out only after Brickell quit.

According to the claim, Annunziata told Brickell he had to resign immediately at that Nov. 30, 2018 meeting.

"I don't know what the board will do when it reconvenes on Monday, (Dec. 2, 2018)," Annunziata is quoted in the document as saying. " Mr. Brickell pleads that he understood this comment to constitute another threat that the board will dismiss the Plaintiff for cause ."

Brickell was fired on Dec. 3 and is suing the NPCA for $2.3 million for wrongful dismissal.

His allegations have not been proven in court.

Brickell's description of how he was fired after he terminated the employment of then-NPCA corporate services manager David Barrick — who was later reinstated and then made acting CAO — is the most detailed account to date of the upheaval that struck the NPCA after the October municipal election .

Out with the old, in with the new

The Oct. 22 municipal election saw the defeat of a wave of regional council incumbents, including Annunziata, formerly the regional councillor for Fort Erie, and most of the NPCA board.

Barrick, a political ally of Annunziata, did not run for reelection as Port Colborne's regional councillor.

Annunziata's board didn't step down after the newly elected regional council appointed new representatives on Dec. 6. Annunziata insisted a long defunct and never used provincial order would decide the next NPCA board appointments — a process that would see him preside over a series of selection meetings. Members of the old board would remain in their seats until that process was followed, the NPCA said.

It took two court decisions on Dec. 21 and Jan. 2 to uphold the new board appointments and force a board meeting.

The NPCA, represented by Barrick and in an affidavit by current communications director Krystle Caputo, opposed the move to install the new board .

Drama behind the scenes

While the public dispute over board appointments unfolded, internally the NPCA leadership was in turmoil.

In his statement of claim Brickell, hired as the CAO in April 2017, said he "was responsible for the hiring and discharge of all NPCA personnel and contractors."

On Nov. 9, according to the document, Brickell decided to fire Barrick, whose 2013 hiring was flagged by Ontario's Auditor General as an example of unfair hiring practices at the agency.

The claim does not say why Barrick was fired.

"Particulars of the reasons for his termination are known to the Plaintiff and are fully known to Mr. Barrick," it says.

According to the claim, because Barrick "had a close relationship with a number of the board members," Brickell decided to tell the board what he was about to do. But "owing to his relationship to the NPCA as its past CAO (he) refrains from particularizing the events that took place between him and the NPCA board of directors about the termination of Mr. Barrick's employment."

Barrick was fired in a Nov. 23 meeting with Brickell and the NPCA human resources consultant. The claim says he was given a letter of termination at that meeting.

Two days later, Brickell received an email about a special Nov. 28 NPCA board meeting. The meeting was not publicly announced and when Brickell asked Annunziata about it, he was told the meeting was being held to "evaluate Mr. Brickell's job performance as CAO."

"The Plaintiff advised Mr. Annunziata that this process did not follow NPCA policy. Mr. Annunziata responded that he could do anything he wants," the claim says.

Brickell was not allowed to attend the meeting, but in a later meeting with Annunziata and then board vice-chair James Kaspersetz, he was told he was being placed on non-disciplinary leave with pay, but was not told why .

Quit or be fired

At the meeting, Brickell says Kaspersetz said to him "you either resign or you will be fired for cause, your choice," according to the claim.

Brickell met again with Annunziata on Nov. 30. At that meeting, Annunziata mentioned social media rumours that Brickell was going to leave the NPCA and asked him to choose between money or his reputation.

On Dec. 3, the board held a closed-door meeting during which Annunziata and Kaspersetz were given the full power of the entire board in a vote of 9 to 2, with Paul MacPherson of Lincoln and Dominic DiFruscio of Thorold voting against the motion.

Brickell met with Annunziata for the last time on Dec. 5 and was told again he would be fired .

Who signed the letter?

On Dec. 6 at around 5 p.m., Niagara regional council appointed 12 new members to the NPCA board. According to the claim, Brickell's lawyer received an email 53 minutes later, saying Brickell had been fired.

A termination letter was emailed five days later. Annunziata's name was typed on the letter but, according to the claim, it was not signed.

A signed copy of the same letter was sent on Dec. 12, but "the letter contains a signature of someone other than Mr. Annunziata." The words "as chairman" are written in another person's handwriting beside the signature.

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The claim says Brickell has never been given a cause for his termination.

The same day Brickell was fired, NPCA clerk Lisa McManus was appointed acting CAO. She reinstated Barrick and then went on leave from which she has not returned.

On Dec. 14, Barrick was announced as acting CAO. The NPCA has not said who approved the appointment.

However, The Standard has obtained a redacted copy of Barrick's contract. It is signed by Kaspersetz, who represented the City of Hamilton on the NPCA board. Next to his signature someone has printed the words "as chair."

Barrick's salary has been blacked out, but the contract shows he has a $1,000-a-month vehicle allowance, $200 more than the allowance in the contract of former regional CAO Carmen D'Angelo.

As CAO, Brickell was paid $155,000 a year plus a $1,000-a-month vehicle allowance.

The annual budget of the NPCA is less than $10 million while the Region's budget is more than $1 billion.

After Barrick became CAO he promoted several staffers to senior positions, including Caputo who was made communications director.

All of these new directors have a $1,000-a-month vehicle allowance.

The Standard first reported that Barrick had been fired and rehired before being appointed as interim CAO on Dec. 13.

On Feb. 5, NPCA communications director Caputo emailed The Standard saying Barrick was never fired.

"I can assure you, as an employee privy to such information, that that statement is unequivocally false," she wrote, saying she would provide no further information.

Caputo, Barrick and Annunziata did not respond to interview requests for this story.

In his claim, Brickell is seeking 36 months of pay and vehicle allowance, $1 million in punitive damages and $800,000 in moral damages.

The NPCA has yet to file a statement of defence.

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