Former Manitoba Inuit Association CEO sues alleging wrongful dismissal
Nastania Mullin alleges reputational harm in lawsuit
Seen here in a September 2017 photo, former CEO Nastania Mullin is suing the Manitoba Inuit Association and the Inuit Association of Manitoba for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal. (File photo)
Nastania Mullin, former chief executive officer of the Manitoba Inuit Association, is suing his former employer and the Inuit Association of Manitoba alleging he was wrongfully dismissed, denied severance and terminated in bad faith.
Mullin alleges his employment was improperly terminated from the Manitoba Inuit Association on Nov. 7, without board approval and in violation of the terms of his employment contract, in a statement of claim filed Feb. 18 in the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba.
The Manitoba Inuit Association is the official representative body for Inuit in the province and the Inuit Association of Manitoba functions as its grassroots charitable arm, focusing on cultural preservation, traditional skills and the Inuit Child First Initiative.
Mullin is seeking $646,500 in contractual severance, representing two-and-a-half years of salary, bonuses, housing allowance, RRSP contributions and benefits.
He’s also seeking $50,000 in aggravated damages and $25,000 in punitive damages, alleging the dismissal was carried out in bad faith and in breach of the duty of honest performance.
In total, Mullin is asking for $721,500.
Mullin earned more than $250,000 a year as chief executive officer, including a $185,000 base salary and additional bonuses and benefits, according to the statement of claim.
The legal action follows allegations of sexual assault, harassment and intimidation against Mullin that came out last year.
Mullin alleges he was terminated without prior warnings, negative performance reviews or an opportunity to respond to the allegations.
The claim further alleges the decision to dismiss Mullin was never brought before the full board, no meeting was held and no resolution was passed, despite his contract requiring board approval.
The Manitoba Inuit Association said in a Nov. 7 Facebook post its board terminated Mullin “after an intensive review.”
The association also said at the time that it had commissioned an outside organization to conduct an independent investigation but did not identify the investigator. It’s not clear whether that investigation is complete.
Mullin alleges the manner of dismissal caused him mental distress and reputational harm, including damage to his professional standing in Indigenous and legal communities.
Mullin has not been charged with a crime, and the allegations have not been tested in court.
The Manitoba Inuit Association did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit. Neither Mullin’s lawyer nor Mullin could be reached for comment.
This guy is unbelievable.
Although I don’t have a opinion of this case one way or the other, if you sign an employment contract and were let go after being publicly drug through the mud without any notice, heads up, or meetings you are guaranteed that you are taking this to court. If it was me, 720K wouldn’t come close.
My guess is they settle for what Nastania asked for with NDAs. More government money disappearing without any disclosure.
In no way am I an advocate for the existence of the Manitoba Inuit Association; in fact I think it’s a frivolous organization. Nonetheless, the guy is probably entitled to the $721,500
I hope not. End of story. K.
He has a very good case, social media pressure is not the right way to go about this, if true all those that said he did this and that should of charged him and used the proper channels to convict him, not a witch-hunt on social media.
Do you understand what a victim goes through when they are SA? Do you think it’s easy to make reports within a small community and on top of that against a family that has power and money. AND on top of that when you are a young person. Sounds a lot easier said than done when you’re not the going through it.
We can only hope for a quick and easy trial than one dragged out with wasting more money that could be allocated elsewhere.
An organization with just seven employees paying a CEO more than $250,000 doesn’t pass the common-sense test.
I’m working in a wrong job this guy was making like half a million a year? Woooo
This sounds all too familiar, as I went through the similar for creating an Association of Montreal Inuit (AMI).
The thing for me though was I was running a charity (for 7 + yrs), taking no income from the efforts, but got fired from the Makivvik job I had for 20 + yrs.
To this day I still haven’t had the damage to my reputation repaired.
Come to Arviat Nunavut. Can you come to Arviat and help Inuit in Arviat. Pretenders in Government workplaces and other offices are not doing their work, they are just making excuses on them.
Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law…..not public opinion, not cancel culture.
Now if the police and prosecution do not file criminal charges, MR. Mullins only option is to file a lawsuit and fight this in civil court.
When you go on a witch hunt and attack someone’s credibility and not go through proper process such as the legal system you are on dangerous ground for a lawsuit.
Was this person charged and under investigation or was it all based on social media pressure?
Let this be a learning experience for the organization and other organizations that you need to follow procedures and the legal system.
He has a good case and will likely settle for a huge amount of money.