The City of Windsor has filed a statement of defence in response to a $1.55-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by the former commissioner of infrastructure services.
In the statement of defence filed on Tuesday, the city claims its former top engineer Chris Nepszy displayed "unsatisfactory competence" during his time at city hall and "repeatedly failed to meet expectations."
Nepszy took the job with the City of Windsor in September 2021, after serving as the chief administrative officer for the Town of Essex, and was fired back in November.
His statement of claim filed with Ontario Superior Court in Toronto in early April alleged a "top-down culture of corruption" at city hall and cited orders from superiors to "keep the mayor happy at all costs."
In the document, the city also denies all allegations made against it in Nepszy's statement, with the city's court document calling the allegations "sensationalized and spurious" and "deliberately inflammatory."
The 25 page document includes 120 bullet points in total, and closes with the city stating that if the case does move to trial it should take place in Windsor and not Toronto where it was originally filed by Nepszy.
Mayor Drew Dilkens used strong mayor powers to remove Nepszy and Shelby Askin-Hager, the commissioner of Legal and Legislative Services, from their positions with the corporation.
As part of strong mayor powers granted by the province under the Municipal Act, the mayor has the power to appoint and dismiss the chief administrative officer as well as various senior managers.
All claims in the court documents are allegations and have not been proven in court.