Fired N.B. health network CEO awarded record-breaking $2M in unjust dismissal case | 24CA News

Dr. John Dornan, the previous CEO of Horizon Health Network in New Brunswick, has been awarded greater than $2 million in compensation, plus pension contributions and advantages, after he was fired just some months into his five-year mandate.

According to Dornan’s legal professionals, that is the biggest employment compensation award in New Brunswick’s historical past. It additionally consists of $200,000 in aggravated damages.

Premier Blaine Higgs introduced Dornan’s firing in July 2022, following the loss of life of a affected person in an emergency division ready room in Fredericton.

Higgs additionally shuffled out the well being minister and wiped the boards of each Horizon and Vitalité well being networks.

In a launch, Dornan mentioned he was a “political scapegoat.”

“Nobody should have their career and livelihood taken away like that,” he mentioned.

“I’ve had a cloud hanging over my head. I hope this decision goes some way towards restoring my reputation and allowing me to resume my career.”

Kelly VanBuskirk, Dornan’s lawyer in New Brunswick, mentioned the physician had spent greater than 30 years constructing his status as a doctor and health-care govt.

“For a person like Dr. Dornan, who has spent his entire life, really, in the health-care sector, serving people, working with the public, trying to advance the wellbeing of New Brunswickers … having his job taken from him in the way that it was, that’s traumatic, that’s upsetting, that’s humiliating,” he mentioned.

VanBuskirk mentioned Dornan was handled in “bad faith,” as he was “unceremoniously fired in the parking lot” shortly earlier than the July 15 press convention asserting the health-care shakeups.

“Employers have a duty of good faith and fair dealing when terminating someone’s employment,” he mentioned.

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Dornan was named CEO of Horizon Health Network in March 2022. He had been serving as interim CEO since August 2021, changing Karen McGrath after her retirement.

During the news convention the place Donan’s dismissal was introduced, Higgs positioned the blame for the struggling health-care system on administration.

“It’s not up to me to run the health-care authorities but it is up to me to ensure that the right people are in the position to do so, and it starts at the top,” he mentioned.

“If we don’t get better management results in our hospitals, we won’t get better health care.”

Howard Levitt, a Toronto-based lawyer, mentioned Dornan was publicly blamed for most of the present issues within the province’s health-care system, together with the latest loss of life of a affected person.

“There is no other way to say it — the premier threw John Dornan under the bus in a public, disingenuous and callous manner, just minutes after he fired him,” he mentioned.

‘Tough discussions’ wanted: premier

Speaking with reporters Thursday afternoon, the premier mentioned when he made the choice again in July, he was seeking to “bring a sense of urgency into the health-care system.”

“If I had to go back in July, I would be doing the same thing,” Higgs mentioned.

Asked concerning the method wherein Dornan was fired – particularly, the “callous and disingenuous” method he was dismissed – Higgs clarified that he wasn’t speaking about “what the adjudicator said and what was right or wrong.”

“I was referring to the overall situation and the changes that were made,” he mentioned.

“I think that the statements made and the decision made are still to be evaluated, and that I’ll wait for our legal folks to give me a determination on that.”

Higgs – who can also be being sued by one other physician who accused him of publicly blaming him for a COVID-19 outbreak – didn’t instantly reply a query about what these authorized actions imply for physician recruitment within the province, however mentioned enhancing providers for New Brunswickers typically comes with “tough discussions.”

“Let’s put aside the personalities and the personal conflicts and say, ‘How do we deliver better results?’” he mentioned.

“I just stick with that principle and so it does involve, sometimes, some tough discussions.”

‘Disingenuous and callous’ firing

In a written resolution dated Feb. 15, adjudicator George Filliter accepted that Dornan was fired in a “public, disingenuous and callous manner.”

It mentioned that Dornan had been requested a day earlier than his dismissal to attend a news convention, however was not informed what it could be about.

While Dornan was on the way in which to the news convention on July 15, it mentioned he obtained a name from Higgs informing him that Bruce Fitch can be appointed as the brand new well being minister.

It mentioned Fitch then took the cellphone and “promptly terminated the grievor.”

Filliter wrote that after Dornan was terminated, the premier and the brand new minister of well being held a news convention that referred to the latest emergency room loss of life, and appointed a brand new well being minister, abolished two hospital boards and dismissed Dornan because of this.

“It would be reasonable for a member of the public to conclude that the premier had concluded the grievor was responsible for this unfortunate death,” the choice learn.

“Furthermore, the only conclusion to be reached from this news conference was that the announced termination of the grievor was directly related to the unfortunate death.

“In my view, these comments were made without proof and caused unjustified harm to the professional reputation of the grievor.”

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During the adjudication listening to, which passed off in December, Dornan testified that an investigation into the emergency room loss of life concluded it had nothing to do together with his administration.

As properly, based on Dornan’s testimony, he has been unable to seek out work after he was fired.

“According to the evidence of the grievor, there are no positions available in the province, even for someone of his stature and qualifications, because of the system. The two positions he previously held are no longer available,” the choice mentioned.

The resolution mentioned he had utilized out of the province and had “two very positive interviews” for a place in Saskatchewan much like the one he was terminated from.

“But he was told by the agency hired to conduct this search on behalf of the province of Saskatchewan that when representatives of the province of New Brunswick were contacted, they did not provide a good reference,” the choice mentioned.

It additionally mentioned Dornan “became very much aware of the potentially precarious nature of his job” whereas he was nonetheless working because the interim CEO.

He testified that at one level, he was inspired to contemplate ending the obstetric and gynecological providers on the Upper River Valley Hospital, which he did.

“The next day he was told by the Board of the employer to reverse his announcement and later he received a call from the Premier in which the grievor was told during this conversation that he had been ‘thrown under the bus,’” it mentioned.

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Filliter’s resolution additionally famous that Dornan had signed a contract that included a termination clause, which might have entitled him to a 12 months’s pay in lieu of discover.

However, the adjudicator discovered the clause was unenforceable as a result of Dornan had solely signed the contract after he had already been in his position for 2 weeks, and had beforehand orally accepted phrases of his employment, which didn’t embrace particulars concerning the clause.

“I have no hesitation in concluding that … (he) felt he was in a vulnerable position as he had no other option having arranged to have his previous positions filled on a permanent basis,” the choice mentioned.

“In considering the extent of his vulnerability, one cannot forget that he testified, that had this clause been mentioned in earlier negotiations he would not have accepted the offer of employment.”

In the top, Dornan was awarded particular damages representing the worth of misplaced wage and advantages for the rest of his five-year time period, in addition to aggravated damages within the quantity of $200,000 “for the breach of the employer’s implied obligation to act in good faith when dismissing him.”