Redcliff town manager placed on administrative leave by council

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

Southern Alberta Newspapers

Redcliff’s town manager has been placed on leave pending the outcome of an investigation by a human resources consultant.

That was the decision of town council members in a special meeting held last week, the minutes of which were presented to council’s regularly scheduled meeting on March 27.

They state that chief administrative officer Phyllis Forsyth will go onto administrative leave until a report commissioned by council is returned.

In the interim, current legislative and development manager Shanon Simon will be take over as acting town manager.

It is a standard policy of municipalities to not provide comment on human resource matters.

It is not clear what prompted the action, though Southern Alberta Newspapers is aware of at least one recent matter before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal involving a former senior town employee who is claiming wrongful termination.

On March 21, council met in a closed special meeting, the agenda for which only outlines one item, described as a personnel matter.

After a 40-minute discussion between council members and administrators not present, the meeting entered a public session. At that point council members approved the motion putting Forsyth on leave until a report by Veritas Human Resources was received.

Forsyth joined the town as top administrator in June 2020, and was previously the manager of a combined five summer villages in the Sylvan Lake area for eight years, and previously worked in other roles for the towns of Rocky Mountain House and Fox Creek.