Court says a co-worker's misconduct report carried racial bias and poisoned ct council's decisions
A British Columbia city must pay more than $600,000 to its former chief financial officer after a court ruled that race factored into the decisions to suspend and fire him, even though the council acted on an internal misconduct complaint about his corporate credit card use.
On May 13, 2026, Justice Gomery of the BC Court of Appeal, with Justices Fleming and Brundrett concurring, dismissed the City of Nanaimo's appeal. The decision upholds a Human Rights Tribunal finding that the City discriminated against Victor Mema, a Black man, when it suspended him in March 2018 and terminated him two months later. The reasons highlight that an employer that acts on an internal complaint without full investigation assumes the risk that the complaint may rest on an insecure foundation.
Mema was appointed CFO in July 2016. He held a corporate credit card, known as a P-card, and used it for personal purchases. He consistently identified those purchases but began to delay repayment in 2016. A KPMG forensic audit named him as one of two employees who delayed reimbursing personal expenses and stated that KPMG had seen no evidence of fraud or criminal activity.
In February 2018, a finance department manager prepared a Misconduct Report addressing Mema's P-card use, his vehicle allowance, the CAO's approval of his P-card statements, his...
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