Damning Whitehead report from integrity commissioner is city’s ‘Me Too moment’

Hamilton councillors say they must do better to protect staff after the city's integrity watchdog condemned Terry Whitehead for alleged bullying and harassment - behaviour it says has gone on for years.

This is this municipality's Me Too moment," Coun. Maureen Wilson said Wednesday.

Coun. Judi Partridge, meanwhile, said elected officials had enabled" Whitehead's behaviour for years.

We have to put as stop to it. That's on all of us."

Council endorsed the 30 days of docked pay the integrity commissioner imposed on Whitehead as a penalty.

They also agreed to limit Whitehead's communication to the city's most senior staff and bar him from serving as chair or vice-chair of committees.

The sanctions spring from a complaint filed by the human resources department after Whitehead unleashed an aggressive barrage of rapid-fire questions" directed at Edward Soldo, transportation operations director, over a road diet" on Aberdeen Avenue during a September 2020 public works meeting.

Whitehead treated Soldo like a hostile witness under cross-examination," the commissioner's report states.

In a workplace, such questioning of another employee would quickly be recognized as harassment," Principles Integrity, the firm that serves a commissioner, noted in the report.

Whitehead falsely accused Soldo, who is not named in the report, of disobeying past council direction, implied he was misleading the committee and suggested he was lying.

Coun. John-Paul Danko, who tried to rein Whitehead in, eventually ejected him from the virtual meeting for questioning Soldo's competence" and refusing to apologize.

In a prepared statement Wednesday, the veteran Mountain councillor said he'd asked high-level bureaucrats tough questions on behalf of Hamilton residents."

Whitehead, who had been sick leave since March until his return last week, said he's challenging" the report, exploring options and will consider taking this matter to a judicial review."

Principles Integrity's report also notes interviews with staff pointed to a half a dozen separate incidents, involving as many different management staff, who experienced similar bullying" by Whitehead in public meetings.

They were described as Terry being Terry," said the report, adding the investigation revealed a number of other instances, over several years" of allegedly threatening people's employment.

The commissioner also accused Whitehead of spreading false rumours that Soldo had been fired from his last job.

He has not denied the allegations" but asserted it was due diligence" to pass on information about Soldo's supposed termination," the report states.

Whitehead denied that he'd bullied staff or committed a breach of the code of conduct. Moreover, he said his behaviour stemmed from health issues he'd had during the COVID-19 pandemic, the commissioner noted.

During Wednesday's council meeting, Whitehead said he had an incurable problem" that led to mental-health problems, including depression and anxiety, during his lengthy leave.

It was devastating for my family."

His wife had to teach him how to walk and talk again, which was when his memory started to return, he said.

It was then that I realized that I had to fight. I had to fight to get out of that dark, dark spot I was in and I did."

In a letter to city officials, Whitehead's lawyer calls the integrity commissioner complaint process inherently flawed" and argues the unduly punitive recommendations" shouldn't be enacted.

Jack Restivo also contends the findings are unsupported by fact" and the conclusions representative of opinion' and conjecture.'"

Moreover, the probe was replete with conflict of interest" given Principles Integrity co-principal Janice Atwood-Petkovski served as Hamilton's city solicitor.

Atwood-Petkovski rejected that allegation, telling council she'd never offered Whitehead advice on the issues and has no personal interest in the outcome of this matter."

Docking 30 days of pay was a significant penalty," she said, but not a sledgehammer," adding council could consider the added guard rails" to limit Whitehead's interaction with staff.

Danko said it was really hard" to read the report. When you're an adult, it's not bullying; it's straight-up harassment."

Mayor Fred Eisenberger noted a power imbalance" between elected officials and staff. That is why we need to fundamentally protect and support our staff from the kinds of harassment, bullying and intimidation that is identified here."

Coun. Brad Clark, who called the report's findings disturbing," said it's up to council to ensure decorum and order."

Staff deserve better, Coun. Nrinder Nann said. It's violence," she said about bullying and harassment.

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com