City of Windsor reaches settlement agreement with fired engineer who claimed corruption at city hall
CBC
The City of Windsor has reached a settlement agreement with fired engineer Chris Nepszy that ends his wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
Neither side is answering questions about the terms of the settlement agreement, including any potential costs to taxpayers.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens exercised his strong mayor powers to fire Nepszy in 2023.
Nepszy filed a $1.5-million wrongful termination lawsuit alleging a "top-down culture of corruption at city hall" and that his boss told him to "keep the mayor happy at all costs."
Lawyers for the city called Nepszy's allegations sensationalized, spurious, and designed to embarrass the city and elected members of council.
Dilkens shared a statement with CBC News after Nepszy's initial lawsuit was made public saying that "the city denies all of the spurious allegations and will defend itself accordingly."
Both sides quietly reached a settlement through mediation earlier this year, according to court documents.
The allegations from Nepszy include hiding costs related to Windsor's legacy beacon streetcar project, requests from councillors to waive parking tickets and politically motivated decisions about infrastructure projects.
Nepszy was hired as Windsor's commissioner of infrastructure services on Sept. 7, 2021, after a recruiting firm recommended him as one of two candidates, according to the city's statement of claim.
He was fired on Nov. 15, 2023, by Dilkens under new legislation that gives mayor's in certain Ontario cities the power to hire and fire people in management positions.
In its statement of defence, the city claims Nepszy was fired "due to significant and mounting performance concerns that were shared by senior administrative staff and virtually all members of council."
The city denies Nepszy's claim that former interim CAO Onorio Colucci asked him in almost every formal and informal meeting "whether he was keeping the mayor happy."
It states that Colucci, who returned as interim CAO from retirement after his replacement, Jason Reynar, was dismissed, met with Nepszy on April 8, 2022, to address "unsatisfactory work performance and lack of responsiveness to members of city council and senior administration."
The city claimed Nepszy ignored city council and considered them to be a distraction, resulting in monthly one-on-one meetings with Colucci "for corrective action to be taken."
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