The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled in Carleton’s favour to stay a 2016 Superior Court of Quebec decision allowing the university to recoup half a million dollars in pension payments made to a retired professor who was later found dead.
George Roseme, a political science professor, went missing from his farm north of Gatineau in September 2007. According to the Ottawa Citizen, Roseme was 77 years old and suffering from early-stage Alzheimer’s disease at the time of his disappearance.
After a 10-day search failed to find Roseme, his remains were only discovered in the nearby Outaouais woods in July 2013. A coroner on the case determined that Roseme’s death was accidental and occured two days after he disappeared.
The Charlatan reported in 2016 that at the time of his disappearance, Roseme was receiving $7,122 per month in pension payments. Court documents indicated that Lynne Threlfall, Roseme’s girlfriend of many years, was assigned to oversee his account. Threlfall could not be reached for comment.
According to the Citizen, university officials didn’t know Roseme was missing and presumed dead until an article about the case appeared in January 2009, and was brought to the attention of Carleton’s pension manger, Neil Courtemanche. Courtemanche then wrote to Threlfall noting that the university was suspending further pension payments and seeking the overpayment of $70,000, as the pension plan Roseme chose was only valid while he was living.
However, the Citizen reported that Threlfall’s lawyer disputed the decision to end pension payments because Roseme was presumed alive under the Civil Code of Quebec. The university resumed payments until remains were discovered in 2013 and launched a lawsuit against Roseme’s estate to recover close to $500,000 plus interest.
In February 2016, a Quebec Superior judge ruled in Carleton’s favour, leading Threlfall to appeal the decision. However, an Oct. 23 decision notice from the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that “the judge did not err in his interpretation of the contract between the respondent [Carleton] and the former employee [Roseme].”
Mandy Hair, Carleton’s manager of total compensation in Human Resources, said in an email that Courtemanche is no longer employed by the university. According to Hair, Carleton itself will not receive the settlement money.
“The judgement (sic) allows the Retirement Plan to pursue reimbursement of the funds, but the Retirement Plan will only recoup the money if Ms. Threlfall has sufficient assets to cover the amount due, so there is no guarantee that full restitution will be available,” Hair explained.
Steven Reid, Carleton’s media relations officer, said in an emailed statement that the Court of Appeal’s decision supports the university’s stance that it has a “fiduciary responsibility” to recover pension funds on behalf of its pension plan members.
“As confirmed by the court, the funds paid to the former employee’s estate after the date of death are to be repaid to the pension plan, since the employee specifically chose an increased pension that was to be paid during his lifetime only,” Reid wrote.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
