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.