The city of Montreal will pay financial compensation totaling $300,000 to former borough mayor Sue Montgomery and her former chief of staff Annalisa Harris, who filed defamation suits in 2021.
Published yesterday at 5:26 p.m.
When she was mayor of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district in 2020, Ms. Montgomery was expelled from Projet Montréal, Mayor Valérie Plante’s party, for refusing to fire his chief of staff. Ms. Harris is being sued by the city’s controller general for bullying the district manager and the person responsible for supporting elected officials.
In a press release issued yesterday, the City of Montreal recalls the court decisions that ruled in favor of Sue Montgomery in 2020 and 2022.
In particular, a Supreme Court justice called the Comptroller General’s order to prevent Annalisa Harris from communicating with county officials “unreasonable.” He also ruled that Sue Montgomery should have received a copy of the comptroller’s report through her chief of staff.
The court also questioned certain findings in the report that accused Ms. Harris of bullying.
In January 2022, another ruling overturned decisions by the Quebec Municipal Commission (CMQ) regarding Ms. Montgomery’s ethics citation.
The defamation lawsuits filed by the two women in 2021 were against the city of Montreal, mayor Valérie Plante and auditor Alain Bond. Sue Montgomery asked for $150,000 and got $130,000, while Annalisa Harris asked for $182,000 and got $170,000.
In an interview, Annalisa Harris said she was “very happy with the agreement.” “It allows me to turn the page, but I really suffered, and this whole story could have been avoided if Mayor Plante had read the Comptroller General’s report,” she emphasized.