Former Norfolk solicitor suing county and its mayor for a 'toxic work environment'

Norfolk County's former top lawyer is suing the county for more than half a million dollars, with claims including a toxic work environment, her budget being inflated by mysterious credit card payments, and the mayor humiliating her through the local media and Facebook.

Paula Boutis, who served as county solicitor until November 2021, has filed a suit that seeks $71,000 for wrongful dismissal, $300,000 for breach of contract, and $200,000 in punitive damages.

It also seeks $200,000 in damages from Mayor Kristal Chopp, and another $200,000 from former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jason Burgess, who now works for the City of Niagara Falls.

In her statement of claim, Boutis describes a toxic environment that included other senior staff hiring external lawyers without her knowledge, and a spreadsheet that she says inflated her budget by $120,000.

She also alleges that Chopp circumvented Boutis's advice by communicating directly with someone who'd mounted a legal challenge against the county — someone who seemed to have more knowledge of council's plans than Boutis did.

Chopp also made a Facebook post and gave a media interview that implied Boutis was bad at her job, the claim says. 

None of the allegations have been tested in court. The county acknowledged the suit in a short statement Tuesday.

"The county and all individual defendants strongly deny the allegations made against the defendants and other individuals mentioned in the statement of claim, none of which have been proven in court," it said.

"All defendants will be responding with a full legal defence in due course."

As for Burgess, he said early Thursday that he hasn't received the filing yet.

"It is clear from published media reports however that opposing counsel was able to conduct media interviews prior to me even getting served, which makes me wonder about the real motivations behind this action especially since this is an election year for municipalities," he said in an email.

"I just hope the media and the readers will put this filing in the appropriate context, which is these are unproven allegations against a number of hard-working civil servants and elected officials who led their community through one of the most difficult periods in this country's history with COVID-19. Unproven allegations from one individual should never be allowed to diminish their efforts or impair their character," he said. 

Boutis's claim says the county was "a toxic and poisoned work environment." She now works for the Toronto firm Aird and Berlis LLP, which until recently was Norfolk's integrity commissioner.

"The plaintiff pleads that the conduct of the individual defendant, Kristal Chopp … was flagrant and outrageous, and was calculated to produce harm which resulted in visible and provable injury," Boutis said in the claim made through Kathryn Marshall of Levitt Sheikh LLP.