A year after harrowing allegations facing the City of Leduc were first reported by Global News, another employee is leaving.
The city’s deputy fire chief is stepping down, nearly one year after Leduc fire Chief George Clancy resigned.
Deputy fire chief Broderick Moore will leave his job at the end of March, according to an undated resignation letter obtained by Global News.
He is the latest employee to exit the City of Leduc since a class-action lawsuit was filed against it.
“We’ve seen the departure of fire chief, two deputy chiefs — including Moore this week — and two firefighters,” Robert Martz, the Calgary-based lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said on Tuesday.
The lawsuit includes allegations of sexual assault, harassment, discrimination and bullying. None has been proven in court.
An external investigation concluded the Leduc fire department has a “psychologically unsafe and harmful culture.”
While Moore is not accused of sexual assault, harassment or bullying, he is mentioned in the report.
“Largely in the context of failing to properly address the issues brought forward by the women about the hostile work environment and the abuse they were suffering,” Martz said.
Moore’s resignation letter doesn’t reference the allegations, nor is he named in the lawsuit.
The City of Leduc has filed a statement of defence denying all allegations.
In the meantime, pressure is growing for Leduc city council to take action.
On Monday night at a council meeting, multiple women read emotional statements, including Taryn Covey.
“I lost my sense of safety and security, but most of all I lost myself,” she said to councillors.
In an affidavit filed in June 2022, Covey alleges her supervisor at a City of Leduc recreation facility demanded a ride and assaulted her inside the car.
The affidavit said she reported the incident to the Leduc RCMP and to the city’s human resources, and was asked “what she was wearing, if she found her supervisor attractive and if she’d led him on.”
The document alleges H.R. urged her not to file a complaint.
“At first I thought I was only a victim of my attacker, but I have come to realize I am also a victim of the continued systemic failings of the City of Leduc,” Covey said as part of her statement Monday night.
Global News reached out to Covey for an interview. She said she didn’t have any further comments but was happy to be quoted from the meeting.
Martz said the latest departure — of the deputy fire chief — may not impact the legal case, “but it shows a recognition that there were individuals in the fire department that had to go to make meaningful change in our view.”
The City of Leduc did not say if the deputy chief’s resignation was connected to the lawsuit.
A court hearing in May will determine if the case should go forward as a class-action or regular lawsuit.
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