NANAIMO — The City is appealing a Supreme Court ruling which confirmed their termination of a former chief financial officer was affected by racial bias.
Zimbabwean-born Victor Mema was fired by the City of Nanaimo in 2018, after what the City said was improper use of a municipality-issued credit card and other irregularities, which involved more than $14,000 in personal expenses.
Mema took his case to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, who in 2023, awarded him over $640,000 in lost wages and other damages. It was a ruling upheld earlier this year in a judicial review by the B.C. Supreme Court.
“The City of Nanaimo has filed a Notice of Appeal in relation to the recent judicial review ruling concerning the Human Rights Tribunal’s decision involving the City’s former Chief Financial Officer,” the City said in a statement, while adding no further comment would come as the matter was before the court.
Mema was suspended by the City with pay in March 2018, and fired two months later, after an internal investigation uncovered thousands in personal purchases.
While the Tribunal said Mema made “poor decisions” in his use of the City-issued card, his termination was “discriminatory”.
The Tribunal ruled Mema was falsely and racially portrayed as an official who abused funds, silenced whistleblowers, and avoided accountability.
City lawyers made the argument the Tribunal relied too heavily on “hearsay and opinion evidence” regarding Mema’s portrayal, however the B.C. Supreme Court did not agree.
No date has been confirmed for the Court of Appeals to hear the City’s argument.
In a separate professional misconduct ruling last year by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta, Mema was fined $30,000 for his corporate credit card use while employed with the City of Nanaimo.
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