CORNWALL Ontario – Whistleblower and former Glen Stor Dun Lodge manager Diane Shay has issued a press release regarding her ordeal vs the city.
Excerpt of court documents. Ms Shay’s text of incident.
Excerpt 2 – Ms Shay being “disciplined”
excerpt 3 – a summation of what ocurred
excerpt – While charges against Robert Menagh were dropped; the city of Cornwall was fined $15K
Former CAO Paul Fitzpatrick was given “executive leave” before being allowed to retire instead of being prosecuted.
Donna Derouchie, who Mr. Fitzpatrick was alleged to have had a relationship with, was on the Sunshine list a year after leaving the lodge.
Robert Menagh was terminated “Without Cause”. The city of Cornwall paid Sunshine list salaries for two HR managers for two years.
With Dail Levesque retiring the City is having difficulty finding a replacement. Mayor Kilger cited ” a new direction” was needed.
To date that new direction has never been made clear.
As Ms Shay mentions; the city paid for the defense and legal costs of this case; but she had to foot her own legal bills.
Ms Shay was one of three whistle blowers in the last term of the Kilger council.
Former Deputy Chief Rob Hickley was forced into retirement when he could no longer shoulder the legal bill of his case and the courts refused to force the city to pay for his case.
Former councilor Leslie O’Shaughnessy, who is now running for mayor against Mr. Kilger, mentioned this case in an earlier release.
In January 2011 I was asked to make a decision on whether the City of Cornwall should plead guilty or not guilty to charges filed by MOHLTC against the City, regarding retaliation against a whistle blower that came forward over an issue at GSDL. I was not provided any written documentation or recommendation from administration to make this decision, and I was also told that there was no documentation (dating back to 2008-2009 when the incident occurred) that I could review to help me understand what happened.
I was then given the opportunity to ask any questions that I might have to Legal Counsel that was in attendance. I had no knowledge of the issue, no information, no recommendation from staff, no written legal opinion to review – only individual verbal accounts of what happened that were inconsistent…and Council was advised that it had to make a decision that night.
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As you are well aware Council voted to plead not guilty – to this day I am still confused as to how that decision was made.
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Over the next eight months, while dealing with the issues surrounding this case, there were never any written reports or recommendations from administration, provided.
Earlier Interview with Ms Shay
Part 2
Ms Shay’s release below.
MAYOR BOB KILGER and CORNWALL CAO NORM LEVAC:
“Please take down this wall of abuse”
Nurse Diane Shay makes plea to end six-year reign of illegal persecution after reporting Elder Abuse to MOHLTC
Due to the City of Cornwall’s lead-footed response to the lawsuit that would provide closure to its illegal and now six-year reign of persecution on former municipal Health and Safety Officer, nurse Diane Shay, after she lawfully reported a case of elder abuse at the municipally run long-term care home Glen-Stor-Dun Lodge in 2008, Shay is today announcing that she is “going public.”
It is Shay’s opinion that with an election looming, the City is willfully dragging its feet to avoid voters’ top-of-mind awareness that:
- The City was found guilty, then charged and fined by the Ontario Court of Justice in 2011 for illegal retaliation against Diane Shay;
- Shay is on long-term disability as a direct result of the abuses committed by her employer (The City of Cornwall);
- City councilors were willfully kept in-the-dark by former CAO Paul Fitzpatrick and Mayor Bob Kilger;
- Former CAO Paul Fitzpatrick, former Human Resources manager Robert Menagh, and the once top manager at Glen-Stor-Dun Lodge (Donna Derouchie) were handsomely financed for their respective retirements, releases and resignations;
- Taxpayers footed the bill for the City’s legal costs;
- Diane Shay is responsible for paying her own legal fees; and
- City-hired lawyer and “investigator” Judith Allen’s findings states that Shay’s claims were “unsubstantiated” which Council unanimously accepted (widely reported by local media) will continue to leave an indelible stain upon Shay’s professional record and personal character until such time as the lawsuit is completed and the outcome publicly communicated to the community.
Diane Shay says:
“I have done my part of the legal process, respectfully and patiently, but the abuse must end so I can move on with my life and help other victims.”
The following links to CFN provides details about the Diane Shay’s odyssey.
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Mr. O’Shaughnessy, commenting on the council’s decision to have the city plead not guilty in the case, stated that he was confused how the decision was reached.
As a taxpayer I am outraged to think that not one iota of intelligence surrounds the horseshoe. That these individuals, voted in to represent the citizens of Cornwall, could so blindly arrive at a conclusion without any facts whatsoever to endorse their recommendation is an insult to our collective intelligence.
People that act without thinking scare the hell out of me. People that act without merit should not hold any office on behalf of the taxpayer. People that fail to properly represent the public interest should not be returned to hold office again.
The only reasonable and intelligent thing to do is not return any councilor that fell into the trap and voted to plead not guilty that night.
I personally cannot vote for stupidity. Not one current council member will garner my vote.
As for the Mayor, wasn’t he elected to lead?
where’s an ombudsman when you need one?
It is prominent in Cornwall, the poor service to people. My ex’s mom just spent 3 months in hospital from a broken leg. They pushed her so hard that it broke once again resulting in a hip replacement and an infection. According to the people in the room the nurses were quite unnecessarily rough with many patients causing them to be in tears.
In the nurses defense and some will tell you in private there is nothing they can do with out facing repercussions. This is not justification for the nurses actions, however it is understandable why they do this.
More recently another friends father was admitted with very low blood count in his body. They topped him up sent him home and nobody ever checked to see what happened nor did any investigation while he was in the hospital….
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Hopefully this will allow people to see Bob Kilger for what he truly is…..a bully. It’s time for him and his clique to give the city back to the people.
John,
Unfortunately cases like mine do not fall under the ombudsman legislation.
Diane Shay
To think that after all the corruption, lies, bullying, affairs, scandals, misrepresentation by Kilger and his clan that the people of Cornwall would grow some balls and say enough, but the fact is anyone who continues to vote for this most dishonest person (KILGER) not only deserves everything you get but must be corrupt themselves. Cornwall Ontario is what it is, a town based on corruption and scandal after scandal. It can never change. I hold out hope but no longer hold my breath. Jamie, guess who applied for the HR job, yep you guessed it correctly. That in itself shows something now don’t it.
Very brave woman. My hat to you for doing the right thing. Unfortunately in cases like these there are no winner and losers, just losers. You unfortunately have suffered many losses, health, financial, emotional…, the taxes payers and the city’s reputation for allowing this to go on.
The only thing they have not broken is your ethical beliefs and you in your heart believe that you have done the right thing. Thanks for sharing her story
Diane you, and Rob have been through hell and back. You had one of the hardest jobs on record. Corruption reigns high in Cornwall. Cornwall is riddled with one scandal after another and you are a good lady and Rob is a good man and both of you have your health wrecked as well as financial. Cornwall’s reputation is in the tank and it has been for a mighty long time. Hold your head high and Rob as well. These bullies will get it back for what they have done to other people and it never ever misses. What Bare Ass and his clan are doing to people they will pay a terrible price whether health or financial or whatever but it will come back to them one way or another and it never fails. Believe me Diane I have suffered from the time I was a child and I see Bare Ass as one of the bullies that I had in school and my daughter, son and husband went through it as well. You are an educated lady and you take care of yourself and Rob as well. Jamie the same for you too you keep in good health and don’t pay any attention to that idiot Facebook or any other type of yackety yack.
The city of Cornwall has taken action by attacking me on many issues over the last six years.
As you know for action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Diane Shay
In my view, the municipality has no business being the owner of a health care facility, retirement home or chronic care facility. For several years, the City of Cornwall held the ownership of Cornwall Electric . . . . . purchasing the utility from private owner Sun Life Financial . . . holding the utility for several years before selling it to a division of Enron that transferred ownership to the present private owner.
Municipal ownership of a provincially regulated enterprise invariably leads to some form of cozy relationship between senior municipal official and provincial officials . . . opening the door to conflict of interest. Several years ago, the city got out of the electric power distribution business . . . perhaps its time for the city to get out of health care as well.
Diane Shay’s experiences are nothing new in Cornwall . . . becoming the target of personal attacks for standing up for what you believe to be ethical and correct. And it begins when the municipality is involved in areas where there was never any need for municipal involvement in the first place.
The events that surround the city owned nursing home illustrate shortcomings with city administration, namely, the refusal by elected officials to hire the CAO based on a term contract of fixed duration. The last Cornwall mayor who ‘managed’ the city without a CAO was Nick Kaneb . . . Ed Lumley hired Maurice Engels as the city’s first CAO. Based on a consultant’s report, Mayor Brian Lynch relieved then CAO Charles Adams from his post, replacing him with an out-of-town candidate, Hugh John Cook.
The claim that Nurse Shay was ‘disloyal’ and to penalize her for it sets the tone for other employees to ‘put up and shut up’ and ignore what appear to be excesses or abuses in the behaviour of colleagues and/or superiors.
Its then up to the families of residents of nursing homes to place hidden cameras in their relatives’ rooms to record incidents of abuse . . . . and both CBC and CTV news documentaries broadcast footage of employees of nursing homes abusing otherwise peaceful and docile patients. We can understand the motivation to forcibly restrain a violent patient . . . then the question begs to be asked as to why patients with violent tendencies are placed where they are in contact with docile and peaceful (defenseless) patients. There have been cases of violent patients actually ending the lives of the peaceful and docile patients at nursing homes.
There are serious problems with the manner in which the Ministry of Health regulates nursing homes . . . . and a big problem when a municipality owns a nursing home. The MoH is literally setting rules and regulations that are resulting in staff burnout, impairing the quality of care. The combination of municipal ownership of a nursing home and municipal politics infiltrating into such a home, makes for a nasty situation.
City of Cornwall needs to get itself out of the nursing home business and needs to consider term limits for the office of CAO.
Mr. Valentine the people of Cornwall had it pretty good having Cornwall Electric as their provider but if Cornwall goes under Ontario Hydro watch your bills skyrocket. About health care things go wrong even if it is under private care and yes they sure do. There are a lot of things that people don’t hear about but they go on just the same. Ontario is in dire straights and most people are not fully aware about what is going on and they had no choice but to cut on services and I am afraid that it can be worse.
Hi Jules . . . . Ontario’s new Liberal premier may find herself having to implement Tim Hudak’s campaign promise and lay off 100,000 government employees. The Ministry of Health requires municipalities to own and operate at least 1-health care facility . . . . then imposes regulations galore. Staff at several nursing homes are demoralized. There are patients other than the aged literally being dumped into the nursing homes . . . . . then people wonder how that could be. Staff who speak out about the situation face reprimand or possible dismissal.
In my view, the events that surround Diane Shay are the tip of the iceberg of perhaps much bigger problems that result from government running health care.
Cornwall Electric has a contract with Hydro Quebec until 2017. And after that I don’t see them changing to the Ontario Hydro grid. It would cost them too much to convert over to it.
Mr. Valentine you are absolutely right that this liberal premier Kathleen Wynn (I call her Winnie at times) will have no other alternative but to cut 100,000 jobs in the Ontario government and other facilities. Many people are going to see the repeat of horrors of the Mike Harris days and I would tell the people to hold on to their seats because I think that even the feds are going to come up with some doozies as well. What I see here in Ottawa with the economy you want to believe that something is going on but none of us are being told anything. It is just an observance on my part but something big is going to happen sooner than we think. People are not buying much and the stores are practically empty wherever you go. Health care will be reduced more than what it is just now. The health care will become like the way they fix cars like you are a machine and out you go to look after yourself and it is already starting to be that way as we speak.
No more “I know because I know.” The feds have cut about as much as they can without affecting basic services. There will be very few federal gov’t cuts further on. As for the provincial situation I guess we’ll see.
@Hugger1. Cornwall is the only jurisdiction in Ontario to receive an exemption from the Liberals Green Energy Act. The exemption expires when the long term contract with Quebec Hydro ends which is December 31st, 2019. After that date Cornwall will be required by legislation brought about by the Ontario Liberals to purchase power from an Ontario provider. The net result to Cornwall residents will be a rather dramatic increase in their hydro bills that will likely prove difficult for a large percentage of our residents to deal with.
Great question to put to the candidates but good luck getting anything useful in the way of a response to the looming dilemma from any of the current sitting members.
The concept of democracy and lobbying for the continuance of the exemption seems to escape current thought.
I can see the handwriting on the wall for this future reality. The reaction will likely mirror the recent storage tank situation. Surprise, surprise, surprise.
Unless the Fiberals are voted out in the next provincial election.
Or here’s a wacky idea…..the government could have some balls and tell Hydro One / OPG, etc. to get their act in gear and stop screwing the hydro consumer. Or they could scrap that ridiculous Green Energy Act, which is a joke.
@ Hugger. Do you really think the Dippers would undo the damage the Libs have caused?
If they want to get elected yes.
Do the math, it would take decades to reverse the financial damage accomplished by the Liberals in the last decade. So here is another wacky idea…Under federal law Quebec Hydro cannot sell power to another Canadian province or territory for more than it receives for exporting power abroad (USA). What this means is that Ontario can import power from Quebec on long term contracts for substantially less than it currently costs Ontario to produce power. I guess the downside is that we would be relying on a neighbouring province and likely building a bridge between cultures. Since I have never heard any politician mention this concept it must be politically incorrect to suggest that countryman should rely on each other and support a common cause.
Pity, I thought money was a universal language and good business practices a win win situation.
Agreed. But stopping the huge financial errors made by Hydro One, etc would be a good start.
Not to worry David. Once Dug Ford is done with the silly election in Toronto, he’ll be able to assume the leadership of the Cons and lead them out of the wilderness. It will take a year or two to clean up the Hudak mess, but Dug can and will do it in plenty of time for the next election.
Furtz…unless he’s elected mayor of The Big Smoke.
That’s pretty funny Hugger. I have a better chance of being elected King Of The World than he has of becoming mayor of Toronto. The Fords are toast in Hog Town. Time for Dug to move into provincial politics. He’d be a perfect fit in the PC party.
Funnier things have happened. Ontario voters re-elected the Fiberals in June.
You can’t blame the Ontario voters for choosing a rodent to lead the Cons in the last two elections.
So the solution is to return to power a party that has devastated this province for a decade?
Yup. Maybe in four years the Cons will be fit for the job. But that’s a big maybe.
First a big TIP OF THE HAT to CFN
They don’t throw up”Comments Closed” every time a discussion isn’t to their liking..like Standard Freeholder.
Diane Shay was very brave but like whistlebowers the world over the penalties of doing the right thing come at a huge cost.
Have seen CTV W5 reports on people being killed by violent patients in nursing homes.Curses on the many governments that closed most mental health hospitals.
Cornwall seems to be moving backwards in so many areas
I was appalled to see a “religious” group(GospelTruthOutreach) stage a protest/hate filled rant/ about Gay people on Brookdale Ave Friday.
Some people stood up to them comparing them to Westboro Baptist Church who even boycott the funerals of soldiers that have died in combat for their country.
Cornwall needs a control/alt/delete reset starting with our MP and especially City council