The city of Toronto has quietly accepted $4 million from Manulife Financial, the benefits administrator it replaced in 2016 after questionable city employee claims for Viagra, fentanyl and other health expenses were not flagged, the Star has learned.City council approved the offer, preventing any future legal claim by the city, during a closed-door session in December, say two sources with knowledge of the concluded agreement who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about it.The terms include agreeing not to publicly disclose the settlement, following auditor general reports on fraudulent claims that saw some workers fired and others disciplined, the sources say.Councillor Paul Ainslie, chair of the general government and licensing committee, refused to discuss details of the payment because the city code of conduct forbids councillors from revealing contents of meetings held in camera. The December agenda said only that councillors would get a report about “potential litigation” relating to two auditor general reports about employee extended health and dental benefit claims from the city-funded plan before Green Shield Canada took over administration of it in late 2016.However, Ainslie did confirm the existence of a settlement. He said he raised the issue of secrecy with city solicitor Wendy Walberg when he learned after the closed-door vote that, unlike many legal issues, this one was never to be revealed publicly, even after the deal was signed.“There was a concern from the (city legal) negotiating team that, if we didn’t keep the terms of the settlement confidential, that Manulife might not accept the settlement and they would walk away,” said Ainslie (Ward 24, Scarborough Guildwood) in an interview.“As a city councillor, I’m here to look after the best interests of the taxpayers of the city of Toronto. We’re here to safeguard the interests of the residents and not the overall interests ...
|
