Former Alberta school superintendent created culture of fear and intimidation, report says

An investigation into a whistleblower's complaint has found that a former superintendent of the Sturgeon School Division "grossly mismanaged" employees creating a culture of bullying, harassment, and intimidation.

Mary Lynne Campbell's conduct was found to have contravened the province's whistleblower protection act, Alberta's public interest commissioner concluded on the balance of probabilities, in a report published in late December. 

Campbell's acts "were deliberate and showed a reckless or wilful disregard for proper management," the report states. 

"While Ms. Campbell believes her conduct and management style were appropriate, the overwhelming weight of evidence provided by over 85 per cent of the division's central office employees supports my findings," former public interest commissioner Peter Sherstan wrote in the report. 

"Ms. Campbell's inappropriate conduct created a culture of fear within the division demonstrating a reckless or wilful disregard for the proper management of the division."

Campbell began teaching in 1983, and was the top administrator of Sturgeon Public Schools since 2018.

In October 2021, Campbell announced her plans to retire in June 2022, but just a month following the announcement her role had already been taken over by Shawna Walter, the current superintendent.

The report said that the commissioner received the complaint about Campbell's misconduct on May 17, 2021. 

The report noted that Campbell retired while the investigation was ongoing, but because of the severity of the allegations, the investigation would continue until its completion. 

The public interest commissioner's report detailed the accounts of 39 current and former employees who are referred to as witnesses to maintain their anonymity.

Of the witnesses, six of them were interviewed in the investigation as per Campbell's request in support of her position.

Thirty-five witnesse, including four of Campbell's own selected witnesses, described the culture and Campbell's leadership as "toxic, degrading, and scary."

The commissioner noted that 12 people described negative mental health impacts from work-related stress they said Campbell played a role in and five of those people had to receive treatment for panic, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders. 

In response to the allegations, Campbell provided the commissioner with a 189-page written response along with 1,616 pages of documents and 25 minutes of video supporting her defence.