Mentzelopoulos seeks to disqualify government lawyers over AHS privilege dispute

An Alberta judge heard arguments Tuesday over whether dozens of documents former Alberta Health Services head Athana Mentzelopoulos emailed to herself shortly before her firing should be shielded from future litigation and whether several of her lawyers should be disqualified.

Mentzelopoulos is suing the provincial government and AHS for $1.7 million, alleging wrongful dismissal. Since June of last year, she has also been seeking a partial summary judgment, claiming she was fired by an individual who lacked the authority to terminate her employment. The government and AHS have denied wrongdoing.

Court of King's Bench Justice Michael Lema heard arguments from lawyers representing Mentzelopoulos, AHS, and the government of Alberta over whether 46 of nearly 500 records should be subject to privilege claims. Lawyers for the government and AHS argued the records contain confidential information relating to AHS business activities that was provided to Mentzelopoulos in her role as president and CEO.

Mentzelopoulos's lawyer, Sharon Roberts, countered that some of the documents reference an internal investigation Mentzelopoulos launched into procurements and contracting practices at AHS. Roberts argued that any privilege over them had been waived through a government-commissioned investigation by retired Judge Raymond Wyant. "A parallel investigation to the one that's being allegedly privileged was done publicly to clear the government of any wrongdoing and lay all the blame at AHS," Roberts said in court.

She further argued that AHS and the government had failed to demonstrate they experienced irreparable harm and had instead relied on language imputing nefarious motives to her actions when Mentzelopoulos had acted as a whistleblower. The court has not yet ruled.