Judge orders Alberta government, AHS to produce records in former CEO's wrongful dismissal suit

A judge has ordered Alberta Health Services and the Alberta government to hand over records they had sought to keep private to the health authority's former CEO. Athana Mentzelopoulos filed a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit against both defendants in February 2025. She claims the government fired her to stop her inquiries into conflicts of interest and questionable contract terms for private surgical facilities. AHS has stated it terminated her for not fulfilling her duties, and both parties deny the allegations against them.

In his Friday ruling, Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Lema wrote that while AHS and the Crown argued just cause was not an issue, their own court filings suggested otherwise. Just cause refers to dismissal for serious misconduct or incompetence. The judge noted AHS argued it had the power to dismiss Mentzelopoulos without cause under her contract. However, he found the health authority had also "explicitly or at least implicitly" pleaded just cause by stating it lost confidence in her ability to do her job.

Lema ruled that making these just cause allegations put her performance in issue, requiring document production. He ordered AHS and the government to disclose records, including email attachments and meeting minutes, to fill "certain gaps and deficiencies." The defendants must file the missing materials by Nov. 2 and justify any redactions or remove them. Lema awarded costs to Mentzelopoulos and stated that disclosure of other records like drafts and metadata would be subject to future litigation.

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Brett Code, a lawyer for Mentzelopoulos, called the decision "very important." He said once the documents are produced, it will be clear that "all of the negative performance allegations and the pejorative criticisms of Athana were not just incorrect, but false." "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. "It will still take time, but all that is now inevitable."

The defendants had countered that they disclosed all relevant records and accused Mentzelopoulos's lawyers of a "fishing trip." Each had sworn under oath it held no further materials. Munaf Mohamed, a lawyer for the government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Friday's ruling, Lema noted AHS and the government have maintained Mentzelopoulos was fired for poor performance and incompetence. The judge stated these allegations opened the door to whether they had a duty to warn her about potential dismissal. "I may direct threshold production of records relating to a possible duty to warn e.g. identifying concerns and outlining expected improvements (including benchmarks and timing) and any warning of potential dismissal if performance did not improve," Lema wrote. He invited submissions from all parties on potential performance-related records that could be disclosed, which he said might help decide if just cause is a plausible defence.

Mentzelopoulos was terminated as AHS president and CEO in January 2025. Her lawyers have sought a partial summary dismissal, arguing then-deputy health minister Andre Tremblay lacked the authority under her contract to fire her. They contend there was no just cause for her termination. This ruling follows one last month where Lema agreed with AHS and government lawyers that dozens of records Mentzelopoulos retained could not be used due to being privileged or confidential.

With files from CBC News and Edmonton Journal