In the first public settlement to arise out of a sweeping two-year Health Ministry investigation, a B.C. civil servant was rehired Monday.
Robert Neil Hart, one of seven who lost jobs as part of a Health Ministry investigation into an alleged privacy breach, was rehired on Monday, 18 months to the day he was fired.
Hart was given back his job, according to an agreed to statement of facts, “as a demonstration of the government’s continuing confidence in him, as a loyal and dedicated public servant with over 29 years service,” said his lawyer, Bob Gill.
“It’s been a very tough 18 months and as you can imagine he’s delighted to be reinstated,” Gill said. “All he ever wanted, frankly, was to keep doing his job.”
Hart became the ministry’s director of data access, research and stewardship in 2008, managing a staff of about 25 employees.
Hart alleged in court documents that he was terminated “in a callous and insensitive manner” on Aug. 31, 2012. He sued for wrongful dismissal, breach of contract and defamation.
That civil suit will now be dropped, Gill said.
“The government’s never given a lot of the detail about exactly how the decision was made to let this particular group of employees go. The particulars have never been made public; I don’t know if they ever will,” he said. “It’s going to leave a lot of questions unanswered.”
Neither the government nor Hart’s lawyer would discuss the settlement, citing confidentiality.
Hart will not lose his 18 months’ pay nor face court costs.
He was not at work Monday but in a few days is expected to start a job with responsibility equal to his previous position.
Based on a tip to the Office of the Auditor General in March 2012, the Health Ministry launched an investigation looking into allegations of conflict of interest, inappropriate conduct and data mismanagement in its pharmaceutical services division.
The Health Ministry pegged the revised cost of the investigation Monday at $3.3 million, including legal costs.
B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake declined in a media scrum Monday to comment on the settlement, citing privacy: “It’s a personnel matter and it’s been dealt with by the ministry and that’s all I’m going to say.”
Former health minister Margaret MacDiarmid in September 2012 announced four firings and three suspensions without pay — including the suspension of university research contracts, which have been restored.
Since the investigation, “we’ve made some corrections and a lot of work has gone into ensuring privacy is supreme when it comes to people’s health data,” Lake said.
Reports were done by B.C.’s privacy commissioner and consulting firm Deloitte and Touche, which offered similar recommendations.
The only report that hasn’t been released is the government’s. The government was unable Monday to provide an update on the status of that report.
