A former member of the leadership team at Windsor City Hall has filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the City of Windsor.
Former Commissioner of Infrastructure Services Chris Nepszy was let go in November 2023 in what the city called 'a strategic realignment of its organizational structure.'
Mayor Drew Dilkens used strong mayor powers to remove Nepszy and Shelby Askin-Hager, the commissioner of Legal and Legislative Services, from their positions with the corporation.
As part of strong mayor powers granted by the province under the Municipal Act, the mayor has the power to appoint and dismiss the chief administrative officer as well as various senior managers.
Lawyer Howard Levitt is representing Nepszy and says the lawsuit was filed last week after negotiations failed to reach agreement on a severance package.
"Given his position, given his life of service, given his remuneration, and given the difficulty of reemployment, they just didn't offer very much and wouldn't move. So finally, we had no choice but to sue. He's found this extremely difficult," he says.
Levitt says Nepszy contends in his lawsuit that he served the community to the best of his ability.
"He was always transparent, he always acted with integrity, and his goal was to see Windsor flourish and succeed," says Levitt. "He had no criticisms of his performance when he was there. He had some issues—we'll call it that—described more thoroughly in the claim with the mayor. All of a sudden, he's terminated."
Nepszy took the job with the City of Windsor in September 2021 after serving as the chief administrative officer for the Town of Essex.
The city has released a statement from Mayor Dilkens saying "We are aware of the statement of claim filed by a former employee against the City of Windsor. The City denies all of the spurious allegations and will defend itself accordingly. As this has now become a legal matter we will refrain from further comment and allow the legal process to take its course."
None of the allegations contained in the claim have been tested in court.