Auditor general settles lawsuit over his firing of deputy

New Brunswick's auditor general has settled a lawsuit filed by his former deputy after he fired her in 2023.

Janice Leahy, one of at least a dozen employees who left the office of Auditor General Paul Martin last year, claimed in her lawsuit that her firing was retaliatory and was done in bad faith.

Court records showed the case was discontinued earlier this month.

 "All employment-related matters with the Office of the Auditor General of New Brunswick have been resolved to our mutual satisfaction," a spokesperson for Martin said in an email, turning down a request for details of the settlement.

Leahy did not respond to an interview request from CBC News.

Martin wouldn't discuss the wave of departures or Leahy's lawsuit when reporters asked him about them last year, saying only that the market for qualified auditors was "hot" in 2023 and that contributed to some staff taking positions elsewhere.

He also rejected suggestions by Green Leader David Coon that the departures were connected to his audit of the province's COVID-19 response, an audit Coon criticized.

In her statement of claim last year, Leahy said that her firing "was retaliatory in nature given the positions taken by the plaintiff [Leahy] and was in bad faith."

Her lawsuit focused on her loss of income.

She said in her statement of claim she'd been earning $166,166 a year as deputy auditor general, far more than the $107,249 annual salary in the new job she found at the Canada Revenue Agency in September.

She also said she was entitled to more severance as well as other compensation, for a total claim of $163,497.37.

Martin said in a subsequent statement of defence that he offered to continue paying Leahy's salary and benefits for 11 months and only stopped paying her after he learned she had found another job. 

He said he treated her fairly and in good faith.