Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc has filed a small-claims suit against the city, seeking $29,500 for docking him 30 days’ pay last year for alleged Code of Conduct violations.
(This is separate from the $450,000 lawsuit Leduc recently filed against the city and a resident in which he claims he was unfairly defamed during an investigation of his campaign finances.)
The latest lawsuit harkens back to a Nov. 7, 2023, vote of city council to dock Leduc 30 days’ pay for alleged Code of Conduct violations, per the recommendation of city integrity commissioner David Boghosian.
The alleged violations took place during a Sept. 7, 2023, public meeting which was critical of city staff members.
During the meeting, Leduc publicly shared private information about staff members with the audience, which Boghosian said “served to further fuel the ‘nepotism’ rhetoric” of the meeting’s key speaker, Road Surface Recycling vice president technology and research Frank Crupi.
City CAO Ed Archer also censured Leduc and two other members of council shortly after the meeting for their involvement, and disallowed Leduc from talking to city staff directly, requiring he speak only to him via email.
“I’ve always stood by the fact I supported our staff,” Leduc told Sudbury.com this week of the Sept. 7, 2023, meeting. “I truly believe I was supporting our staff from any further abuse.”
In his November 2023 report, Boghosian wrote that Leduc’s claim he was supporting staff “lacks an air of reality,” and that if he were interested in defending city employees he would have stood up to object “much earlier in the meeting when the employees were being repeatedly and viciously defamed.”
Leduc’s small-claims lawsuit seeks $4,500 for lost wages, $10,000 in general damages (harm to reputation and ability to serve), $10,000 in punitive damage (to deter similar future conduct) and $5,000 aggravated damages (for oppressive conduct).
Leduc also said Archer’s direction that he not talk to city staff directly prevented him “from being able to perform my duties as an elected official, like my colleagues.” This direction was lifted in January.
In addition to maintaining his innocence of Code of Conduct violations, Leduc's lawsuit claims that city council has undertaken inconsistent actions when it comes to levying penalties on other members.
Earlier this month, Boghosian recommended that Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée and Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann should face 20-day pay suspension for alleged Code of Conduct violations. City council voted earlier this month to lessen their penalties to a reprimand.
After the meeting, Mayor Paul Lefebre told Sudbury.com that the fact it was a “first-time offence” for both members factored into city council’s leniency, and that past cases where financial penalties were administered were not first offences.
Indeed, Leduc was censured by city council a month prior to the Nov. 7, 2023, city council meeting at which he was given a 30-day suspension. On Oct. 5, 2023, a report by Boghosian ruled that Leduc had breached the city’s Code of Conduct for “objectionable and impertinent” comments directed at area residents critical of him, though no financial penalty was levied.
Despite this, Leduc’s statement of claim alleges “bias” against him on the part of city council, and constitutes “an arbitrary and unfair application of penalties, suggesting an inconsistent application of the principles of fairness and impartiality.”
City of Greater Sudbury communications staff declined comment for this story due to this matter being before the courts, but did offer the statement of defence they filed on Sept. 12.
“Coun. Leduc was treated fairly at all stages in the process, and the penalty decision was an appropriate, proportionate response to Coun. Leduc’s violation of ethical rules that work to protect municipal staff,” the statement of defence reads.
“The City’s conduct was not reprehensible, malicious, oppressive, high-handed or a marked departure from the ordinary standards of decent behaviour.”
The statement also refutes a few points of bias Leduc alleged, noting that although Leduc’s comments in defence of himself were cut off by Lefebvre on Nov. 7, 2023, it was only when he “veered off course to historical matters.” As such, it was not a violation of procedural fairness, since city council “has the right to control its own procedures.”
Leduc also claimed that the penalty Boghosian recommended he should face was increased from 10 days to 30 days “arbitrarily,” which Leduc’s claim alleges raises “concerns about the fairness and consistency of the process.”
The city’s statement of defence notes the penalty time frame change was “a result of a simple typo, not a bait-and-switch. The typo was corrected and clarified to Coun. Leduc, and city council was advised as such.”
The city has requested that Leduc’s claim be dismissed and that he cover legal costs.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
