Two of Brampton's highest paid employees don't even work there

Brampton City Hall's two highest-paid employees don't even work there.

A recent Sunshine list of Ontario public sector employees earning more than $100,000 shows two former Brampton employees — one laid off in 2018 and the other in 2022 — took home more than $1.5 million last year.

David Barrick, who was fired as chief administrative officer (CAO) two years ago, earned more than $267,000 and $18,000 in severance pay last year and $280,000 and $18,000 in benefits a year earlier, according to the list.

Meanwhile, Harry Schlange, who was CAO before Barrick and was fired in 2018, took home about $300,000 annually from 2018 to 2021.

Neither Barrick nor Schlange responded to CBC Toronto's requests for comment.

Those numbers, combined with the long duration of Schlange's severance pay, raise objections to one lawyer, though he said CAO positions often “come with a healthy severance package.”

“They are very politicized positions,” said Whitten and Lublin partner Athanasios Makrinos.

The position is “safe,” Makrinos said, because it's at the discretion of the board and whoever is elected next.

According to employment lawyer Athanasios Makrinos, it is common for CAO positions to come with a “healthy severance package”. (Submitted by Athanasios Makrinos)

Brampton has had four CAOs since 2014. A CBC Toronto analysis shows that among the nearby municipalities of Toronto, Mississauga, Caledon and Oakville, Brampton's former CAOs are the only ones to appear on the sunshine list more than a year after they were fired.

However, some may receive, or continue to receive, severance payments below $100,000—the threshold that the Sunshine List captures.

“There are ways to make sure that the service is spread over several years and doesn't appear on the Sunshine List,” said Zachary Spicer, associate professor of public policy and management at York University.

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“With payments as low as $99,999, you can get buried,” Spicer said.

Brampton spent $38 million on layoffs over 11 years

Barrick was dismissed in 2022, and Schlange in 2018.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown told CBC Toronto that Schlange's resignation was guaranteed in the contract signed by the former mayor, but he would not comment on Barrick's severance package. He referred additional questions to the city — a spokeswoman said the city does not comment on “private personnel matters.”

However, Brown said Schlange's severance was “too generous.”

“All subsequent severance packages have been much simpler and more in line with the private sector,” he said.

A city report shows that $9.5 million of Brampton's $38 million in severance costs between 2010 and 2021 was due to the departure of “the majority of senior executives” since Mayor Patrick Brown took office in 2018, pictured earlier this year. (Saloni Bhugra/ CBC)

A city report shows that $9.5 million of the city's $38 million in severance spending between 2010 and 2021 was due to the departure of “the majority of senior executives” since Brown took office in 2018.

The same report says the city spent more than $24 million on layoffs from 2014 to 2018, due to a mass exodus of employees after the city restructured administrative positions in 2016.

Number. Martin Medeiros, who has served on the council since 2015, attributes the costs to councils that have “been divisive in the past”. He apologized for his role in the decision.

Medeiros said city hall is currently cutting costs for its “generous” severance packages, while working on training and promotion to retain employees.

“We want to make sure we're competitive but not breaking the bank,” he said. “We want to make sure we have people who we think are here for the long haul.”