2022 Ottawa Municipal Election

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A reminder that this is just one of many sketchy things he did. He also attended a Zoom meeting while driving, while on his cell phone. He ended up going to the police to get fiend, but of course that was just a PR stunt, likely ordered by Watson. He got the bare minimum for one offence even though he was committing multiple. He's also generally a bully on Council.

Osgoode couple drops lawsuit against Coun. George Darouze

The lawsuit had been filed in 2020 following an integrity commissioner conduct investigation a year earlier.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
August 11, 2022

A couple who sued Osgoode Coun. George Darouze following an integrity investigation into bullying is dropping the lawsuit after realizing that a trial would chew up more time and money than they’re willing to spend.

Kristen and Reinhard Lechleitner sued Darouze for $32,500 in June 2020 after feeling unsatisfied with how the integrity process ended.

The legal drama ends just months before residents in Osgoode ward decide who should represent them for the 2022-2026 term of Ottawa’s city council. Darouze is seeking a third mandate.

Continuing with the lawsuit wasn’t worth the time, stress and potential cost associated with a trial, Kristen Lechleitner said.

She is an operating-room nurse who also works with Indigenous Services Canada, serving remote communities in Northern Ontario, and Reinhard Lechleitner is a constable with the Ottawa Police Service.

Kristen Lechleitner said they were prepared to settle, but Darouze wanted to take the claim to trial.

Darouze didn’t return a request for comment on Thursday. His lawyer, J.F. Lalonde, confirmed that a judge endorsed the discontinuance of the claim.

Former integrity commissioner Robert Marleau launched a conduct investigation in 2019 after learning Darouze emailed the chief of police, who was Charles Bordeleau at the time, to complain about social media posts by an officer’s wife criticizing police deployment decisions in the Osgoode area.

The police chief ran Darouze’s complaint down the ranks for an assessment and an inspector and staff sergeant found that the observations in the Facebook posts by Kristen Lechleitner were accurate. The senior officers notified Reinhard Lechleitner, who just then learned about the posts, and assured him no action would be taken by the police force.

In the report summarizing his conduct investigation, Marleau wrote, “the major motivation of the councillor was to bully and intimidate” the Lechleitners “in the hope that female complainant might cease her critical Facebook commentary of him.”

Marleau didn’t call for a financial penalty to be levelled against Darouze, but he recommended that council reprimand the councillor and that Darouze issue a sincere written apology to the Lechleitners. Marleau also recommended that council direct Darouze to ask the police chief to remove the councillor’s email from Reinhard Lechleitner’s personnel file.

On Sept. 25, 2019, council received and carried Marleau’s recommendations without discussion.

Kristen Lechleitner attended the council meeting to watch how the mayor and councillors responded to the integrity report.

“I was angry,” she said Thursday. “They did nothing.”

The Lechleitners filed their lawsuit against Darouze in small claims court. The couple landed on damages of $30,000 in recognition of the penalties the integrity commissioner had available in making a recommendation to council on penalties. The maximum penalty for a conduct violation is a 90-day salary suspension.

The Lechleitners also weren’t satisfied with Darouze’s apology, particularly a part that said, “I have learned that you perceived my actions to be harassing and for that I am truly sorry.”

In the court file, Darouze’s defence document, dated January 2021, alleged that he had been the subject of defamatory remarks on social media made by Kristen Lechleitner.

In his defence, Darouze said he fulfilled the recommendations in the integrity commissioner’s report, including asking Interim Police Chief Steve Bell to remove his email from Reinhard Lechleitner’s file and writing an apology to the Lechleitners.

Darouze argued that the Lechleitners didn’t suffer damages and he asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

The most recent settlement conference happened last week, leading to the Lechleitners’ decision to end their lawsuit.

The Lechleitners weren’t represented by a lawyer during the court case.

Reinhard Lechleitner said they proceeded with the lawsuit because they believed the action was on good legal footing, not because they had “hurt feelings” over Darouze’s conduct.

that property taxpayers could be on the hook for any damages ordered by the court if Darouze was ordered to pay.

The City of Ottawa wasn’t a named defendant in the lawsuit.

Osgoode ward has become one of the hot races to watch ahead of the Oct. 24 municipal election.

One of Darouze’s challengers is Doug Thompson, a former councillor and the last mayor of Osgoode Township, who endorsed Darouze in the 2014 municipal election. Their soured relationship became city hall scuttlebutt after Darouze’s election, and now Thompson wants to reclaim the seat.

But Darouze has eight years of experience on council and has served as deputy mayor in the current term. He won 54 per cent of votes in the 2018 municipal election in a five-candidate race in Osgoode ward.

As of Thursday, other candidates running for the Osgoode seat in 2022 included Dan O’Brien and Bob Masaro.

Kristen Lechleitner, who considered running for the seat, said she was volunteering on Thompson’s campaign.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...george-darouze