Former police chief suing City of Medicine Hat
By Medicine Hat News on March 20, 2024.
newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews Former police chief Mike Worden is suing the City of Medicine Hat nearly two years after he left the post under controversial circumstances, the News has learned. Court records show that Worden filed a statement of claim against the city earlier this year in Court of Kings Bench. The Medicine Hat native, who spent two decades in senior rolls with the Calgary Police Service, took over the top post here in early 2021. He left the city in May 2022 shortly after Calgary media alleged that he had engaged in extra-marital sexual behaviour and asked the woman to delete references to the affair on social media. The News later confirmed that the Medicine Hat Police Commission had launched a third-party investigation into a complaint of “non-workplace misconduct” earlier that year. Commission officials said the report concluded there was no wrong doing found, but refused to release the report or comment further, citing confidentiality policy. City administrators and elected officials, as well as the Medicine Hat Police Service, directed inquiries to the commission. Freelance reporters Charles Russell and Jeannie Russel, working for Global News, outlined the allegations in a report days after Worden announced his resignation in an email to local police officers and staff. He cited personal and family reasons and that his “ability to lead the MHPS with the professionalism that is deserving of the men and women of the (MHPS), and the people of Medicine Hat” had been impacted. The city has not filed a statement off defence. Plaintiffs typically face a two-year deadline to apply to seek damages in civil cases. 12-11
