Graham Hughes Archives The Canadian Press The City reached an amicable agreement with the former boss of the internal affairs division of the SPVM.
The City of Montreal will pay $315,000 to police officer Costa Labos as part of an amicable agreement aimed at putting an end to all disputes between him and the former boss of the internal affairs division of the Service de police of the City of Montreal (SPVM).
Inspector Costa Labos had to leave his position as head of the internal affairs division in 2016 when a scandal broke out surrounding police surveillance to which several journalists had been subject, including the columnist de La Presse, Patrick Lagacé. He was then transferred to another division of the SPVM.
The following year, the director of the SPVM at the time, Philippe Pichet, suspended him following an investigation opened by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ). This investigation never led to the filing of charges against Mr. Labos.
Relations between Costa Labos and the City of Montreal did not subsequently improve.
Suspended with pay for five years, Costa Labos filed in 2020, together with his wife, a lawsuit against the City for “constructive dismissal”, claiming 2.5 million in damages. La Presse reported last April that a report from the human resources department of the City of Montreal had criticized Mr. Labos for failing to fulfill his obligations in matters of health and safety towards other police officers and called him a “harasser”.
In 2021, Mr. Labos for his part filed a complaint for psychological harassment against the City.
Costa Labos returned to work in 2022, but in an email to: Devoir, the SPVM indicates that the police officer retired in July 2023.
On December 13, the executive committee of the City of Montreal gave its approval to an amicable settlement which provides for the payment of a total sum of $315,000 to Costa Labos, “without admission of responsibility on both sides.” “The transaction completely and definitively resolves all recourses undertaken by the plaintiff and his spouse as well as any other claim by the parties to the recourses in question and arising from the employment of the plaintiff,” underlines the document made public by the City.