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A former Alberta chief medical examiner became emotional on the stand at her wrongful dismissal trial while testifying about tensions with colleagues during her last year in the role.
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During her third day of testimony on Tuesday, Dr. Anny Sauvageau discussed her working relationships with Maryann Everett, the assistant deputy minister (ADM) to whom she reported, and former chief medical examiner Dr. Graeme Dowling, who had hired Sauvageau.
Sauvageau, Alberta’s top forensic pathologist from 2011 to 2014, is suing the Government of Alberta for $7.5 million, claiming her contract was not renewed because she stood up to political interference in her office.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Sauvageau went into detail about a conversation she had with Everett on June 25, 2014, where Everett told her the office of the chief medical examiner (OCME) was not independent and at arm’s length, and she did not understand her role. She called the conversation “heated.”
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She testified the conversation began with Everett upset that Sauvageau had responded to another ADM, one who was overseeing the regulatory board that supervises the work of funeral homes in Alberta.
“She said only an ADM can write to an ADM which had never been the case prior with my former ADM,” Sauvageau said.
Sauvageau said Everett also told her she could no longer communicate with stakeholders like police, and that it was Everett’s job as ADM.
“She was extremely discouraging and it was a heated conversation,” Sauvageau said. “She was at one point screaming at me.”
Sauvageau said after the conversation she was shaken and in tears.
“I didn’t know what my job was anymore. I didn’t know how to protect the role of the office of the chief medical examiner anymore,” she said.
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Sauvageau then testified about her working relationship Dowling, whom she replaced as chief in July 2011.
She said when she was assistant and deputy chief, her relationship with Dowling was “very good” but became more difficult when she became chief.
It took months for Dowling to vacate the chief medical examiner’s office space, Sauvageau said, and about a year to remove his items from the storage space attached to the chief’s office.
“It was clear that somehow he thought he will no longer be chief but things would stay the same,” she testified. “Every decision I made or my team made, he was being very openly criticalizing, in writing and verbally.”
She also received complaints from staff that Dowling was “touring the office,” sharing negative comments about her and trying to elicit negative comments in response.
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Sauvageau said she needed to address the issues in writing, and on April 24, 2014, Dowling signed a performance agreement that stated he would be collaborative with the new OCME leadership team, be respectful, and refrain from making undermining comments.
She said there was a “slight improvement” but by June 17, 2014, there were still problems and Sauvageau had two conversations that day with Dowling. In the second, he handed her his resignation letter from her effective Dec. 31, 2014.
Sauvageau said there was then a noticeable change in her interactions with both Dowling and Everett.
She said Dowling “became even bolder in his disrespect” and she was receiving more complaints he tried to elicit negative comments about her.
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When Sauvageau saw Everett next on July 14, 2014, she said her relationship with her was “completely different.”
“Everything I do, everything I say, every email is being criticized, is being done as an HR issue,” Sauvageau said. “She tried to find faults with me on everything.”
Sauvageau said she had increased stress and anxiety during this time.
“I didn’t sleep at all or barely from July 14 to the end of July and even to August, I was not sleeping,” she said, becoming emotional. “I was always thinking about what was happening.”
Her lawyer, Allan Garber, asked Sauvageau if Everett knew about specific things happening in her office following her June 25, 2014, phone call.
She testified Everett mentioned details like where Sauvageau was at a specific time or details of conversations. Sauvageau said she did not know how Everett would know that information and felt Everett had an “informant.”
“That was making me paranoid and at some point, I was questioning, ‘Am I going crazy, am I imagining things’ because it was very surreal,” she said.
Sauvageau will continue testifying Wednesday.
