SASKATOON -- The former Chief of the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol has launched a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the provincial government.

A statement of claim, obtained by CTV News, lists the plaintiff as Robin Litzenberger. It accuses the province of wrongful dismissal and seeks damages.

According to the statement of claim, Litzenberger was handed a termination letter on Oct. 17, 2019 “without reasonable notice, without pay in lieu of notice, and purportedly for just cause.”

The claim says the grounds for termination in the letter were improper equipment purchases, failure to follow proper procurement protocols, improper splitting of transaction costs between multiple invoices, leadership concerns as well as dishonesty.

The claim says that Litzenberger “at all times properly, competently and professionally discharged his employment duties and responsibilities to the defendant.”

It says the allegations in termination letter are “false improper and unsubstantiated” and do not constitute just cause.

Court documents show Litzenberger worked for the province for a total of 17 years, and had an annual salary of $144,000 while he was Chief of the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol.

Litzenberger is seeking damages including salary, benefits and legal costs.

The court documents were uncovered days after an auditor’s report found a lack of sufficient oversight of firearms and ammunition purchases for Highway Patrol duties.

The Province has filed a statement of defence refuting the claims.

In that statement, the province says allegations of misconduct by Litzenberger came to the attention of officials in June of 2019.

The Province says Litzenberger was placed on administrative leave with pay in July 2019 to allow for an investigation into the allegations.

The defence claim says the investigation found Litzenberger had exhibited dishonest conduct, improper leadership and management behaviors, failure to follow procurement policy, splitting purchases between multiple invoices and inconsistent inventory expenditures.

It says Litzenberger was invited to provide his response to the investigation findings and that throughout the process Litzenberger “was treated fairly and respectfully.”

The Province claims Litzenberger “failed to model the behaviors of professionalism; utilize good judgement; conduct himself with honesty and uphold the core values and code of conduct expected of a senior manager in the public service.”

Prior to being Chief of Saskatchewan Highway Patrol, the province says he was Director of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement. Before that it says he was Vice President of Operations and CEO of the Global Transportation Hub.

Auditor report flags purchases

Firearms and ammunition purchases by the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure came under the microscope in the recent auditors report.

“The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure did not sufficiently oversee the purchase of firearms and ammunition bought to support the Highway Patrol duties,” the report says.

It says the Ministry now owns firearms that are not included in regulations for police equipment.

“We found the Ministry owns various firearms and other weapons that are not included in The Municipal Police Equipment Regulations, 1991 (Saskatchewan). This includes three nine-millimetre pistols, two fully automatic rifles, one AR-10 carbine, and 12 suppressors (silencers).”

The report says the ministry is allowed to possess those firearms for training purposes.

“The Ministry advises us legislation allows the Ministry to possess these firearms and weapons for training purposes even though it cannot use them in its highway patrol duties.

“We also found the Ministry possesses a shotgun even though the Deputy Minister specifically directed staff not to purchase any shotguns. Management indicated it has not deployed any of these items for operational use, and all are in locked storage.”