Latest news with #Marshall Smith
CBC
7 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Former AHS CEO denies defamation claims from Alberta premier's ex-chief of staff
Former Alberta Health Services CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos is denying defamation allegations from a previous chief of staff to Alberta's premier. Marshall Smith, who left his position as Premier Danielle Smith's top aide in October 2024, filed a lawsuit against Mentzelopoulos in the wake of her own wrongful dismissal lawsuit against AHS and the provincial government. While they have the same last name, Marshall Smith and the premier are not related. Smith alleged Mentzelopoulos made false and defamatory statements about him in court documents filed as part of her wrongful dismissal suit. His statement of claim also names the Globe and Mail newspaper, its Calgary reporter Carrie Tait, and an unnamed man who is believed to be a former board member for the health authority. He is seeking $12 million in damages. In a statement of defence filed in Court of King's Bench of Alberta last week, Mentzelopoulos said she hasn't defamed Smith, nor has he suffered damages as a result. The legal filing calls Smith's allegations "invented attempts to allege harm." It also says his lawsuit appears to try to "distance Smith himself from certain members of the private sector and to downplay the nature of his role in the history of events appropriately recounted by Ms. Mentzelopoulos in her action against the Crown and AHS." The statement of defence also says Mentzelopoulos's statements are shielded from defamation action because they were made in the course of judicial proceedings. None of the allegations in Mentzelopoulos's original lawsuit, or in the subsequent statement of claim and defence related to the Smith lawsuit, have been proven in court. Mentzelopoulos claims she was fired because she'd launched an investigation and forensic audit into various contracts and was reassessing deals she had concluded were overpriced with private surgical companies she said had links to government officials. AHS and Adriana LaGrange — the former minister of health who is now the new minister of primary and preventative health services — have denied Mentzelopoulos's claims in statements of defence that allege she was fired due to her job performance. The province has appointed a former chief judge from Manitoba to conduct a third-party investigation into procurement. The auditor general and Alberta RCMP are also investigating the matter.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Mentzelopoulos denies defaming Alberta premier's former chief of staff in court filing
Lawyers representing the former head of Alberta Health Services (AHS) Athana Mentzelopoulos are denying claims of defamation by Premier Danielle Smith's former chief of staff and call for his lawsuit to be dismissed in recently-filed court documents. Marshall Smith, who is unrelated to the premier, filed a $12-million lawsuit in May against Mentzelopoulos, the Globe and Mail newspaper along with one of its reporters, and another person whose identity is unknown to him but believed to be a former AHS board member. Smith alleges statements in Mentzelopoulos's $1.7-million wrongful dismissal suit, along with further court filings and subsequent media reporting, defamed him and resulted in emotional distress, stress, depression, anxiety, embarrassment, loss of reputation, humiliation and an inability to secure work in his chosen profession. Mentzelopoulos's lawyers filed a statement of defence in Court of King's Bench in Edmonton last Wednesday that denies Smith's claims in their entirety. 'Mentzelopoulos denies each and every allegation set forth in the plaintiff Marshall Smith's statement of claim,' it states. 'He is not entitled to any damages or any relief whatsoever from Ms. Mentzelopoulos. Ms. Mentzelopoulos did not defame Mr. Smith and did not cause him loss or damages.' Her lawyers further argue that allegations contained in her court filings are protected by legal privilege and therefore are immune from legal attack. 'Ms. Mentzelopoulos has an entitlement to state the facts that gave rise to her current circumstances.' The statement also denies Smith suffered any damages as a result of Mentzelopoulos, and even if that were the case, 'the damages claimed are grossly excessive, exaggerated, and not warranted in the circumstances.' It goes on to refute 13 specific allegations Smith makes in his statement of claim, and seeks to have his lawsuit against her dismissed with costs. 'Her statements in the pleadings in her action are statements of fact, they were true or substantially true in substance and fact, and, to the extent any of her statements are statements of opinion, they constituted fair comment,' her statement reads. She also claims to have no knowledge of the individual Smith purports to be a former AHS board member who he also believes to have defamed him. Smith left his role as the premier's chief of staff on Oct. 31, 2024, after just over two years in the position. None of his or Mentzelopoulos's claims have yet been tested in court. Mentzelopoulos took on the role of CEO of AHS on Dec. 7, 2023, and was fired on Jan. 8, 2025. She alleges in her own lawsuit that she was improperly fired by then-deputy minister of health and AHS board member Andre Tremblay at the behest of then-health minister Adriana LaGrange, but that both lacked the authority to do so. Mentzelopoulos has sought a summary judgment whereby a judge would rule on the legality of her firing in an effort to produce an expedited resolution that would also keep the matter from going to trial. The government told Postmedia last month that it plans to 'vigorously' oppose Mentzelopoulos's application, calling it legally baseless and claiming it includes a litany of misinformation and false claims. mblack@ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.
