City of Montreal reaches settlement with Sue Montgomery, former chief of staff

Sue Montgomery will fight on after a Quebec Municipal Commission judge found her guilty of 11 ethics violations. SOURCE: Sue Montgomery/Facebook

The City of Montreal has reached out-of-court settlements with former Côte-Des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-De-Grâce borough mayor Sue Montgomery and her former chief of staff, Annalisa Harris.

Montgomery and Harris will receive a combined total of $300,000.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante had ordered Montgomery to fire her chief of staff over allegations in a report that stated her chief of staff had harassed staffers in her office. However, Montgomery refused, saying she hadn't been able to see the claims made in the report.

Montgomery stood by Harris and said that decision had cost her her personal and professional reputation.

A Superior Court judge ruled in December 2020 that the City of Montreal did not have the power to force Montgomery to fire her chief of staff. But he also said Montgomery overreacted by suspending the borough's director.

On Thursday, the city issued a news release on its website acknowledging the judgment and the recent settlement.

"The Court determined that the Ville de Montréal should have provided a full copy of the DRP reports to Mrs. Montgomery as mayor of the borough and employer of her chief of staff Annalisa Harris. The Court also determined that the measure put in place by the Comptroller General in response to the report, isolating Ms. Harris from all public servants in the borough, was unreasonable and should not have been imposed," the City of Montreal wrote in the release.

"Furthermore, Ville de Montréal acknowledges that the DRP reports did not conclude that Ms. Montgomery, herself, had committed acts affecting the work climate within her borough."