The Independent

The head of the Sarnia Police Services board says taxpayers won’t be paying the legal bills Chief Derek Davis’ defamation suit.

Davis, who is now suspended during a workplace harassment investigation, filed the $1.5-million suit against The Sarnia Journal and its publisher Nathan Colquhoun April 7 after a series of stories and columns critical of the chief.

At the time, Police Board Chair Kelly Ash said the police service, funded by municipal tax dollars, would pick up the tab for the lawsuit.

May 27, Ash told The Independent if Davis was defending himself against a lawsuit filed because of his duties, the board would pay the lawyer fees.

Ash said the board’s lawyer reviewed the chief’s contract and concluded the police service was not obligated to pay for a lawsuit the chief personally initiated.

Also, the board was not named in the lawsuit.

Ash said members of the police services board had received “many, many” complaints after it announced the lawsuit would be paid with taxpayer dollars, which prompted the legal review.

Meantime, the board has hired Marshall Workplace Law out of Toronto to investigate the workplace harassment complaint against Davis. He was suspended with pay May 19 while the investigation takes place.

Ash says the law firm has given no indication of how long the investigation will take.