New Gold denies allegations it bypassed engineering requirements before firing senior employee, court filings show

Fired engineer blows whistle

Photo: KTW File

FILE - Underground operations at the New Afton mine near Kamloops.

A wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed against New Gold by a fired engineer alleges key safety requirements for underground caves were sidestepped at the New Afton mine — claims that are denied by the company.

Sarah Anderson’s position as New Gold’s senior budget engineer was eliminated in October, weeks after she began raising internal concerns about changes to the Kamloops mine’s cave management plan that she believed lacked necessary engineering sign-off.

She filed a notice of civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court on Jan. 27 claiming to have been fired for blowing the whistle. According to Anderson, New Gold made changes to its underground mining plan without having an engineer confirm they were safe.

The lawsuit alleges Anderson began asking questions about the lack of an engineering authentication last summer, which turned into a heated argument at a meeting on Sept. 9.

Anderson received a letter from the company on Sept. 25 accusing her of “borderline insubordination.” She replied on Oct. 20, writing that she was acting in line with her professional duties.

She was out of a job 10 days later.

Company refutes key points

New Gold submitted its response last week, disputing Anderson’s claims and standing by its Sept. 25 letter.

The company argues that her position was cut as part of a broader operational restructuring.

“New Gold’s decision to restructure and to eliminate five positions was in no way connected to or based on Ms. Anderson raising concerns about New Gold’s cave management plan,” reads the response, which was filed on Thursday.

According to the document, Anderson was provided six weeks’ pay in lieu of notice — “an amount that fully meets her contractual entitlement.”

Anderson’s claim seeks general damages, interest and costs. The company will ask a judge to dismiss the suit with costs.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.