The City of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval fired its clerk Caroline Nadeau, who was recently sentenced for illegal practice of the legal profession. The city council evokes a “break of trust”.
Between December 14, 2021 and March 27, 2022, Ms. Nadeau continued to use her title of lawyer and legal advisor in the official documents of the Municipality when she was no longer a “member in good standing” of the Bar, which constitutes an offense under the Law on the Bar.
At the time of her hiring in Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, in December 2021, Caroline Nadeau had already been under the influence of a radiation for three months for having failed to complete her hours of compulsory continuing education. No one saw fit, in the City, to check if she was registered on the Roll of the Order.
“As Ms. Nadeau had already been hired by us from 2014 to 2018, we relied on the accountability linked to her position within the organization. However, we have learned from this particular situation and have made the necessary corrections, ”said a communication officer from the City of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval by email.
According to the court documents that we were able to consult, Ms. Nadeau seems to have discovered that she had only been expunged in March 2022. In an email sent to general manager Marc Proulx, she then informed him of an “irregularity” with regard to his status at the Bar and promises to correct the situation quickly.
Ms. Nadeau was nonetheless fined $2,500 a few weeks ago under the Professional Code. The judgment was pronounced by default since Caroline Nadeau did not show up at the hearing “despite having been duly summoned and informed”, according to a public relations officer for the Bar.
Elected officials informed late
For Mayor France Fortier and the members of council, only informed last week of this affair, the bond of trust is broken and the decision has been made to dismiss her from her duties. His dismissal will be approved by elected officials on Tuesday evening. The cause of the dismissal indicated on the resolution will indeed be a “breach of trust” and “is not directly related to his radiation”, it was specified.
Ms. Nadeau had already worked in Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval a few years ago, after her controversial dismissal by the City of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures in 2014. The mayor at the time, Marcel Corriveau, suspected her of having leaked privileged information to a citizen who had lodged a complaint with the UPAC against the former administration, revealed Le Soleil. She had challenged her dismissal and the case was settled out of court.
Caroline Nadeau has also worked for the Town of Rosemère and the Municipality of Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse in recent years. As of this writing, we have not been able to reach her.
Another employee sanctioned
At least one other employee of the City of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval will be subject to disciplinary sanctions in connection with this file, we also confirmed to the Journal. However, the identity of the employee will not be made public in order to comply with the law on the protection of personal information.