Hero doctor sues for wrongful dismissal

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This article was published 16/02/2024 (570 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg doctor hailed as a hero after he saved a nursing supervisor from being stabbed to death is fighting to restore his professional reputation and livelihood, alleging he was fired without cause by the Women’s Health Clinic.

In a lawsuit being heard this week in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, Dr. Ken Hahlweg, 58, alleges he was the target of an “underhanded and vindictive” campaign to force him out of the clinic and was passed over for promotion because he was a man.

The lawsuit says the longtime abortion provider at the Winnipeg clinic was terminated without cause in 2020.

Hahlweg “has suffered catastrophic personal damages and financial loss,” his lawyer, Troy Harwood-Jones, told Justice Ken Champagne in an opening address Monday.

“He has become extremely depressed to the point of becoming suicidal and he has lost his identity as an abortion provider, which he no longer can do.”

On Oct. 27, 2021, Hahlweg was at Seven Oaks General Hospital when a knife-wielding man attacked Candyce Szkwarek. Hahlweg tackled the assailant, saving her life.

Former Seven Oaks employee Trevor Farley was later found not criminally responsible for that attack and the slayings of his parents, Judy Swain and Stuart Farley.

According to a statement of claim that forms the basis of the lawsuit, the 2010 contract Hahlweg signed as an independent contractor included an agreement Women’s Health Clinic would schedule his shifts (or “slates”) and would not reduce or change them without consulting him.

Beginning in 2016, the lawsuit alleges, the clinic started “unilaterally” reducing his slates, from 52 a year to 26 in 2020.

In 2018, Hahlweg applied to be medical director of the centre’s abortion clinic, but the job went to another physician, a woman.

“In our view, he was by far and away the most qualified for the position, but he did not get (it) and he says he was passed over because he was a man,” Harwood-Jones told court.

Hahlweg “was criticized and management accepted false complaints against him without investigation… spread false allegations against him and then ultimately and unilaterally terminated his services in an underhanded, vindictive and malicious manner,” the lawyer said.

In his statement of claim, Hahlweg alleges then-Women’s Health Clinic executive director Dr. Nadine Sookermany and other clinic representatives spread false statements questioning his medical expertise and claimed he contributed to a “toxic” workplace.

While his contract classified him as an independent contractor, Hahlweg was treated more like a dependant contractor, akin to an employee, Harwood-Jones told court.

The clinic “owns all the tools and equipment, set his schedule, his income, disciplined him if he is late.”

Hahlweg’s termination amounted to a constructive dismissal, Harwood-Jones added.

Under the Canada Labour Code, constructive dismissal refers to situations where an employer has not directly fired an employee but has failed to comply with their employment contract, unilaterally changed the terms of employment, or expressed an intention to do either, forcing the employee to quit.

“There was an ongoing campaign against (Hahlweg) over a period of years, where the Women’s Health Clinic behaved badly and engaged in activities we say were characterized by malice against him,” Harwood-Jones said.

Clinic lawyer Cynthia Lazar said Hahlweg’s contract stipulated it could be terminated by either party with 90 days notice, which Hahlweg was provided.

“At the end of the day, we will ask (the court) to consider whether (Hahlweg) could have been constructively dismissed when his contract was actually terminated,” Lazar said.

“This is a simple matter,” she said. “Whether Dr. Hahlweg was constructively dismissed or terminated… whether he was an independent or dependant contractor really does not matter. All roads lead back to the 90-day clause in the agreement.”

Hahlweg is seeking damages for breach of contract, defamation, and breach of fiduciary duty.

In his statement of claim, Hahlweg alleges he had a “highly exclusive relationship” with the clinic and was “highly economically dependent” on it for his livelihood.

Hahlweg’s “ability to find comparable employment will be very restricted given his age, highly specialized skillset (and a) lack of Manitoba institutions that provide abortion services,” the statement of claim says.

However, under cross examination Tuesday, Hahlweg confirmed at the time he was terminated, clinic work made up just 20 per cent of his work hours, and he had held multiple fee-for service or salaried positions, including at Seven Oaks, St. Boniface Hospital, Northern Connections Medical Centre and University of Manitoba.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca