Judge orders Alberta government, AHS to produce records in wrongful dismissal lawsuit

A judge has ordered Alberta Health Services and the provincial government to produce records to fill gaps in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by the agency's former CEO.

In a ruling issued Friday, Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Lema largely sided with Athana Mentzelopoulos, who is suing for $1.7 million after she was fired in January 2025.

He ordered both defendants to file missing materials by Nov. 2, and awarded Mentzelopoulos costs.

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"[Mentzelopoulos] is also right, on certain records, about AHS’s and [the government's] obligation to provide further production to fill certain gaps and deficiencies," Lema wrote.

Her lawyers had argued that records provided by AHS and the province included "gaps and deficiencies," and noted that the pair had each sworn under oath that it held no further relevant materials.

Brett Code, a lawyer for Mentzelopoulos, said the decision was “very important.”

“The government will continue to deny that, but once all the records are produced, it will be clear that what she has been saying is true,” Code said.

Munaf Mohamed, a lawyer retained by the government of Alberta, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In her suit, Mentzelopoulos claimed the government fired her to stop her inquiries into conflicts of interest and questionable terms in AHS contracts for privately-run surgical facilities.

AHS has said it terminated Mentzelopoulos because she wasn’t fulfilling her duties. Both parties deny the allegations.

In his ruling, Lema wrote that AHS and the Crown had argued just cause was not an issue in the termination.

“Instead, the core issue is whether AHS had the power, per the plaintiff’s employment contract, to dismiss her without cause,” Lema wrote.

But the judge wrote that AHS had also “explicitly or at least implicitly” pleaded just cause for the dismissal, citing claims that the health authority had lost confidence in her ability to do her job.

“The very making of the just cause allegations, when AHS [per it] had and used the power to dismiss the plaintiff without cause, puts her performance in issue,” Lema wrote.

He noted that AHS and the government have maintained in their court filings that Mentzelopoulos was fired for poor performance and incompetence.

Those allegations, he said, opened the door to if they had carried a duty to warn Mentzelopoulos that she was facing potential dismissal, though he stopped short of ordering those records to be produced.

Lema invited lawyers for all parties to make submissions on any potential performance-related records that could be disclosed.

He also ordered the defendants to justify why some records were redacted or remove the redactions.

The disclosure of other records including drafts and metadata are subject to future litigation.

Lawyers for the two sides have been arguing over documents for months, in what Lema previously characterized as a “tug-of-war” between the two camps.

The Friday decision follows his prior ruling that Mentzelopoulos must return or destroy records she retained after her termination.

After that ruling, Mohamed wrote that his client was pleased with the decision.

“[My client] looks forward to having the case dismissed as it considers the claim to be without merit,” Mohamed wrote in an email at the time.

Code said the application for AHS and the government to produce records relating to Mentzelopoulos' termination was filed prior to the judge ruling that she must return the records she retained.

Mentzelopoulos has sought a partial summary dismissal, arguing that then-deputy health minister Andre Tremblay fired her but lacked the authority to do so under the terms of her contract.

With files from CBC News and Edmonton Journal