Lawsuit Over Drugs Bust Up
A federal scientist is suing a Health Canada director for defamation after a dispute over Canada drugs became personal and abusive.
Dr. Thaddeus Yarney, a senior analyst at Health Canada who had enjoyed a successful twenty five year career prior to 2005, when he found himself reporting to a new boss, Barbara Rotter Yarney, who reviews Canadian drugs before they are allowed to go on the market, found himself disagreeing with Rotter’s policy to strike male menopause (also known as andropause) as a condition that results from taking Canadian drugs filled with testosterone.
“It was at this point that issues… became apparent… In a number of meetings that took place, (Yarney) expressed opinions regarding andropause which were not received favourably by his superiors”, the defamation lawsuit states. The relationship between the two continued to decline, reaching a low with a “particularly contentious discussion between (him) and management in October 2005 which took place in front of pharmaceutical representatives” over the Canada drug issue. After this confrontation, Yarney was cited for insurbordination, but refused to back down from his position about the Canada drugs, at which point Rotter terminated him from his reviewer position and reassigned him, then suspended him no less than six times before the incident over which Yarney is suing. Rotter allegedly placed two letters in his personnel file questioning his mental health and requiring him to see a physician (who found nothing wrong with him). Words in the letter such as “there is concern his behavior may become violent and unpredictable” are alleged to have been seriously damaging to Yarney’s previously unblemished record, and with absolutely no evidence to back them up.
Yarney is suing for no less than six hundred thousand dollars in damages.
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