Qulliq president praises fired employee; trial over dismissal continues in Iqaluit

Qulliq Energy Corporation president Peter Mackey took the stand June 13 in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit during a civil lawsuit against the corporation by his former administrative assistant. Justice Susan Cooper will hear closing arguments from lawyers on the week-long trial, June 14. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)

The president of Qulliq Energy Corp. said June 13 in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit that his attempt to mediate a conflict between his human resources director and his executive assistant fell flat.

This would prove to be the last resort his assistant, Sarah Kucera, had for keeping her job.

Failing mediation, Qulliq promptly fired Kucera after she asked her lawyer attempt to negotiate a new employment contract after 13 months on the job.

Qulliq president and chief executive officer, Peter Mackey, appeared in court to answer questions related to Kucera’s civil lawsuit against her former employer for wrongful dismissal on the fourth day of the trial, which had previously heard testimony from Kucera and Qulliq’s human resources director, Catherine Cronin.

In reply to lawyers’ questions about his former employee, who served as his executive assistant from July 2009 to August 2010, Mackey said Kucera filled an important role during a time when the corporation “was in a state of flux.”

The corporation had just completed a “functional review process” mandated by the Auditor General of Canada, the court heard, and a “job evaluation process” was ongoing, he said. Earlier in the trial Kucera, 35, said the prospect of working under such challenges was “exciting,” and added to the job’s appeal.

“Sarah indicated she had experience working in a similar environment,” Mackey said, noting she had worked as an executive assistant in her home city Toronto, and that she looked forward to a greater challenge in a very different part of the country.

“It was a position that she aspired to,” he said.

“How would you describe your relationship?” Qulliq defense lawyer Richard Beamish asked.

“It was great. I was new to my position too,” said Mackey, who took on the role of president and CEO just three months before Kucera started her job. Mackey had served an 18-year career with Qulliq and its predecessor companies, much of it as director of information technology and operations.

“I had a good relationship with Sarah [Kucera] right throughout her employment,” he said. “Sarah had done good work, and measured up to all expectations.”

Despite this, a heavy workload, changes in job responsibilities and lack of clarity on shifts in job responsibilities throughout Kucera’s 13 months caused clashes with Qulliq’s director of human resources on separate occasions.

The first occurred in October 2009, when Kucera threatened to resign over changes to her job description and salary. This was followed by e-mail correspondence Cronin had written about Kucera with members of Qulliq’s human resource department in Baker Lake, which Kucera found insulting.

Trouble between the two employees hit a peak in April 2010, when Kucera sought Mackey’s help in resolving the issue. Cronin, upon hearing of this, wrote a six-page complaint about Kucera to Mackey.

“I felt that moving forward, there had to be a concerted effort to get the issue resolved,” Mackey said in court.

Mackey called on Kucera and Cronin to meet for a mediation session with Qulliq labour relations lawyer Francis Léger as mediator. Cronin happened to be Léger’s boss, which doomed the meeting to failure from the start, Kucera’s lawyer Philip Hunt asserted.

“Did it not occur to you that this could be a problem?” Hunt asked Mackey.

“I felt confident that he could act independently,” Mackey said.

The session failed to accomplish anything, and Léger chose not to continue the process.

Kucera’s position as executive assistant to the president was set to be diminished as part of continuing changes to job responsibilities at the corporation.

Many of her tasks were re-assigned to the position of director of corporate services, which caused her some concern.

But Kucera, who had also taken on the role of corporate secretary in December 2009, had the chance to take on a new full-time role in that position, according to Mackey, which he was ready to reserve for her.

Kucera took a month off from work in June and July of 2010, when she left Nunavut for a wedding and honeymoon. On her return to work July 20, she noted the posting for the corporate secretary position had closed.

Faced with the option of quitting the job or renegotiating her contract with the corporation, Kucera chose to seek counsel with lawyer Phillip Hunt, who sent a letter to the energy corporation on August 5 requesting a renegotiation.

Qulliq management promptly decided to fire Kucera, sending her written notice of dismissal “for just cause” on August 6. The corporation offered no severance pay, and obliged her to leave company housing by August 27.

Qulliq’s bare-bones dismissal left Kucera and her husband Viktor with little choice but to move out of Nunavut at their own expense, and return to their former lives in Toronto.

Day four of the trial on June 13 ended with lawyer Hunt’s closing argument. Justice Sue Cooper will hear the closing argument of Qulliq defense lawyer Richard Beamish June 14.