U of W sued over president’s ‘callous, humiliating’ termination

The University of Winnipeg is being sued by its former president over his sudden removal in late November.

Todd Mondor alleges university officials breached his employment agreement, didn’t act in good faith and intentionally inflicted distress upon him, in a statement of claim filed in the Court of King’s Bench late last month.

The board of regents removed Mondor following a meeting Nov. 24; his departure was announced the next day.

Mondor began what was supposed to be a five-year term as president on April 1, 2022. It was slated to expire June 30, 2027, but he says in his court papers he was in the process of seeking reappointment.

Mondor argues his employment agreement with the U of W allowed him to be terminated without cause or advanced notice, but with various stipulations, including varied severance packages depending on whether he would stay in his academic role as a professor or leave the institution entirely.

Board of regents chair Michelle Pereira emailed Mondor about 30 minutes before the Nov. 24 meeting, asking him to stay afterward to meet with her and other board members, says his court filing.

Mondor was presented with a letter that terminated his position without cause, offered a lump sum payment and an additional severance package, his court filing claims.

The severance package payment would be conditional on Mondor signing a release, indemnity and confidentiality agreement, which Mondor alleges violated his employment agreement.

A human resources professional attended the meeting at which he was fired, as did security personnel, who escorted him from the premises, say his court papers.

“The plaintiff states that the defendant terminated the employment agreement in a manner that was misleading, callous, humiliating, and in breach of its duty of good faith in the manner of dismissal,” reads the court claim.

Mondor’s court papers say he was so shocked that the HR professional did not continue to explain the termination to him, as it became clear he was too surprised to engage.

The U of W later removed the release, indemnity and confidentiality agreement clause. Mondor then selected the severance option that included leaving his academic role, too.

However, the U of W then told him he would need to formally resign his position on committees associated with the university as a condition of severance, which he says violated his employment agreement, was inappropriate and heavy-handed.

He wasn’t paid within 30 days, as required under the agreement, he claims.

“The plaintiff states that the defendant terminated the employment agreement in a manner that was misleading, callous, humiliating, and in breach of its duty of good faith in the manner of dismissal.”

The U of W then removed the condition he resign from committees, but added another condition that he provide his password to his university-issued cellphone to receive his severance, which he argues also violated the agreement. The university later removed the passcode condition.

He did not receive severance and pension payments until Jan. 30, 2026.

In the court claim, Mondor argues statements published by the U of W and provided to media outlets allowed for the reasonable inference the termination had resulted from misconduct, which could prevent him from obtaining a similar position at another university.

Mondor says those statements were misleading and could result in lasting harm to his reputation.

Mondor says in his court filing that he had advised the board in March 2025 he intended to seek a renewal of his term as president.

He was called to a meeting with the board in September 2025 by Pereira to discuss the process to review his reappointment, where he expressed support for the review as a fair evaluation of his work, say his court papers.

In October, Mondor says he asked Pereira if there was anything he needed to know about the review and she asked that he formally confirm he was seeking a renewal of his presidency so the board could determine whether it should call in an external firm to conduct the review.

Mondor’s court filing says he continually expressed his plans to seek a renewal of his presidency and the U of W, through chancellor Barb Gamey, expressed support, on Oct. 21, in going through the review process.

He says he had no reason to believe he wouldn’t be reappointed and did not seek alternative employment or take other steps to protect his professional interests.

Mondor’s salary was $332,861 in 2024, as reported by the university’s most recent public-sector compensation documents.

Officials provided few details about Mondor’s sudden exit, but sources told the Free Press at the time his contract was cut short after a whistleblower complaint and related investigation into his office.

Pereira denied the departure had anything to do with the investigation in an interview at the time.

Mondor’s court filing doesn’t make reference to the complaint or investigation.

The U of W has not responded to the lawsuit in court. University spokesman Caleb Zimmerman declined to comment Monday, as did Mondor’s lawyer, Richard Buchwald.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca