The City of Vernon has been taken to court for wrongful dismissal of its former senior manager of the Active Living Centre project.
Christopher Sheel filed a notice of civil claim against the city on March 21. According to the court documents, Sheel was hired in January 2023 to be the senior manager for the $135.9 million Active Living Centre project which is currently being built next to Kal Tire Place on the Kin Race Track lands.
The lawsuit alleges that earlier this year, Sheel was "constructively dismissed." In other words, he was not directly fired but the terms of his employment were altered such that he was forced to resign. The lawsuit states Sheel was wrongfully dismissed without any notice or just cause.
The notice of claim states that around Dec. 12, 2024, Sheel was informed by Peter Weeber, the city's chief administrative officer, that Sheel's reporting structure had been "drastically altered."
"It was made clear to Mr. Sheel that if he did not like the changes, he would be removed from the ALC project," the claim states. "It was further made clear that Mr. Sheel was not even welcome to provide feedback." It is alleged that the Dec. 12 meeting would be "one way," and Sheel was to "listen only and not speak."
According to Sheel, Weeber indicated that Doug Ross, the city's Active Living Centre coordinator and former recreation director, would be the one to explain further and that Sheel was to trust that all would be well.
"Mr. Weeber became visibly perturbed when Mr. Sheel indicated that trust would be difficult given the one-way conversation format, and lack of consultation," the lawsuit states. "Subsequently, on December 12, Mr. Sheel wrote a placating email to Mr. Weeber attempting to mitigate increasing concern about the threat to his job status."
The claim alleges that on the morning of Dec. 13, 2024, Ross delayed explaining the new reporting circumstances to Sheel over the phone until the following week.
Later that day, the lawsuit alleges, Ross wrote to all of Vernon's Active Living Centre contract partners that Sheel's reporting structure had changed.
"Among other comments troubling to Mr. Sheel, the email stated outright that the change had yet to be discussed with Mr. Sheel, but had been discussed with others outside of City of Vernon staff. That email sent has never been discussed with, or provided to, Mr. Sheel by the City of Vernon," the claim states, adding Sheel only found out about the email from a third party.
Sheel claims that on Jan. 27, 2025, Ross informed him that he was not to interact or directly communicate with Weeber, a restriction he says seriously affected his ability to do his job.
The result was that Sheel felt that he had no realistic option to remedy his employment situation and accordingly he was constructively dismissed, the document states.
At the time Sheel was constructively dismissed, he was earning about $144,144 per annum. The remaining value of his agreement with the city is about $356,879.
Sheel was 53 at the time of his alleged forced resignation.
The lawsuit notes there is a shortage of similar jobs available in the job market, and Sheel has taken all reasonable steps to mitigate his loss by seeking other similar employment.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The Morning Star has reached out to the City of Vernon for comment.
