Court sides with borough mayor Sue Montgomery, says Montreal mishandled harassment claims

A Quebec Superior Court judge has sided with Sue Montgomery, mayor of theCte-Des-NeigesNotre-Dame-De-Grceborough, rulingthe City of Montreal did not have the power to force her to fire her chief of staff following a report she harassed two borough employees.

In a decisionissued Thursday, Justice Bernard Synnottordered the cityto rescind its decision to bar Annalisa Harris from communicating with workers in the CDNNDGborough,after allegations of harassment emerged more than a year ago in a report by the city's comptroller general.

That report concluded that Harris psychologically harassed two borough staff, including longtime borough director Stphane Plante.

In January, Projet Montral bootedMontgomery out of the party for refusing to follow the report's recommendation to fire her chief of staff.

Meanwhile, Harris was barred from communicating with staff and attending meetings.

The borough mayor said she wasn'tshown the evidence against Harris and would not fire someone without due process.

In his 38-page ruling, Synott said thatany issues of psychological harassment should have been handledby Montgomery, as Harris is her employee.

Synott wrote that it was ''abnormal'' for the city's comptroller general to bar Harris from attending a meeting between Montgomery and borough officials, even if Harris was only present for note-taking purposes.

Synnotsaid such directives "stoked the fire," and eventually forced Montgomery to takesteps such as sanctioning the borough's director on several occasions.

The borough'selected officials have been butting heads over this issue for more than a year, and the tension between Montgomery and the borough director has been palpable at public meetings.

Harris says she was harassed

When Montgomery did suspend Plante (theborough director, and no relation to Montreal Mayor Valrie Plante)borough councillors which at the time included threeProjet Montral councillors were quick to overrule her decision.

Montgomery's power to manage her own staff was affirmed by the court. Shesaid on Friday that she will not be takingaction against Harris.

Montgomerysaid the comptroller general's report did not show Harris harassed anybody. The borough mayor said Harris did her job properly and politely and had just asked the borough director to do his job.

"I am extremely happy with her work and we will continue to work together for the borough," said Montgomery.

"It's a great day for democracy. It's a great day for justice."

Before the comptroller general's report, Harris had made a complaintof her own on Aug. 29, 2019 saying she was the victim of harassment byborough director.Quebec's workplace safety board (CNESST) is investigating that complaint.

Harris said the city of Montreal did not take her complaints of psychological harassment seriously, and she was left"feeling humiliated, hurt, denigrated and diminished." She said it hasdamaged her reputation.

After the court handed down its ruling, Harris said she wasgrateful for the support she has received from her family, friends and borough residents. She also thanked Montgomery for her unwaveringsupport throughouta"very difficult year."

"It's not easy to be a young woman in politics and I am grateful to have a mayor who supports me," said Harris, 28.

Harris's age was mentioned in the comptroller general's report. In his ruling, Synnotsaid the fact that Harris is in her 20sis not relevant and that mentioning that in the report wasdiscriminatory.

When contacted Friday,borough director Plante declined to comment.

Mayor Plante to blame, opposition says

Official opposition leader and councillor for the district of DarlingtonLionel Perez said this saga is far from over, as there are now complaints filed with the CNESST and theCommission municipale du Qubec.

"It is clear from the judgment that Mayor Plante's office is largely responsible for the crisis and contributed to dragging out this situation for almost a year," saidPerez in a statement.

"From the beginning of the conflict between Mrs. Montgomery and Plante, I always said that this matter should be settled in court to avoid a hostile work environment in the borough."

Mayor Plante's office released a statement Friday, saying the ruling confirms the existence of an unhealthy work climate and accusingMontgomery of creatingthat climate.

The city's priority isto maintain a functional borough that gives citizens the "services they are entitled to expect," the statement says.

"We will analyze the judgment in order to evaluate the options allowing us to improve the situation in a sustainable way," the statement says.

"All employees of the City of Montreal must be treated with respect, civility and dignity."