Warren (Smokey) Thomas, former president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), speaks to reporters at Queen's Park in Toronto on Jan. 21, 2019.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has sought a court order to compel a Toronto lawyer to turn over documents relevant to a forensic audit of the union’s finances.
The continuing audit has so far resulted in accusations of financial misappropriation against OPSEU’s former president, Warren (Smokey) Thomas, former vice-president and treasurer Eddy Almeida and another former executive, Maurice Gabay. A lawsuit filed by OPSEU last month alleged that the three men “unlawfully” took almost $6-million in union funds.
Mr. Thomas has called the allegations “bogus.” Mr. Almeida and Mr. Gabay have not responded to the allegations.
The court order is the latest legal step OPSEU’s new leadership has taken as it probes the state of union’s finances and how union funds were used during Mr. Thomas’s 15-year tenure.
OPSEU alleges that lawyer Mark Mendl, who used to provide legal services to the union, refused multiple requests over the past year to provide the union with certain documents, including the union’s own client file.
The union claims that it will be unable to get a full picture of its own finances and complete a third-party forensic audit properly without the documents that Mr. Mendl allegedly possesses.
On Feb. 8, OPSEU filed an application in an Ontario court ordering Mr. Mendl and his firm, Mark Mendl Professional Law Corp., to deliver OPSEU’s own client file to the union which contains, among other documents, payments Mr. Mendl might have received from the union.
When reached by The Globe and Mail by phone on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Mendl said he had no comment on the continuing legal matter.
Mr. Mendl was hired on retainer by the union in 2017, when Mr. Thomas was union president, and dealt primarily with management-side labour and employment matters, the court application stated.
In April, 2022, after Mr. Thomas retired, JP Hornick and Laurie Nancekivell were elected to lead the union as president and as vice-president and treasurer, respectively, and they ordered a third-party forensic audit into the union’s finances. Among the concerns the new leadership had, according to the court documents, were the legal services provided by Mr. Mendl, including the movement of union funds through Mr. Mendl’s trust account.
From December, 2021, to April, 2022, approximately $3.2-million of union funds were transferred to a trust account registered to Mr. Mendl’s law corporation, the court documents stated. The money was not related to the retainer payments that Mr. Mendl received for his services and could not be clearly explained or supported by documentation, OPSEU alleged.
Between May, 2022, and June, 2022, the union, through its general counsel, Eric O’Brien, repeatedly requested that Mr. Mendl provide the union with a list of files of matters in which he acted for the union, as well as a detailed description of the services he provided and the payments he received for them. OPSEU did not receive the information, the documents stated.
Mr. Mendl’s services were subsequently terminated by Ms. Hornick and Ms. Nancekivell in July, 2022, and the legal files he was handling were transferred to a new law firm the union had hired to oversee the forensic audit, Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP. Again, between December, 2022, and February, 2023, OPSEU, through its lawyers, repeatedly asked Mr. Mendl to deliver certain financial records and documents related to the trust payments.
Mr. Mendl reassured OPSEU via e-mail that the documents had been sent by regular mail, but the union claims that as of Feb. 8, they had still not received them. An Ontario judge has given Mr. Mendl until March 10 to respond to the court order against him or hand over the documents.
Since Ms. Hornick and Ms. Nancekivell took charge of OPSEU last spring, they have instituted a series of measures aimed at enhancing financial responsibility and changing the culture of the union toward one they say emphasizes collaboration and accountability. An e-mail from leadership sent to OPSEU’s 300-odd staff late last month stated that the union has begun tightening and improving financial controls related to budget approvals.
OPSEU is seeking $6-million in damages from Mr. Thomas, Mr. Almeida and Mr. Gabay for the alleged financial misappropriation of union funds. The union has also accused Mr. Thomas of transferring multiple union-owned vehicles to himself and family members, as well as improperly using money from the union’s strike fund.