A BC Supreme Court ruling this week sided in favour of Victor Mema in an extended legal battle focused on discrimination (City of Nanaimo)

By NanaimoNewsNOW staff

Case closed

City of Nanaimo loses judicial review of financial manager’s ‘discriminatory’ firing

Jun 3, 2025 | 5:16 PM

NANAIMO — A BC Supreme Court judge tossed aside a legal claim by the City of Nanaimo regarding “racial bias” against a former financial manager who was fired seven years ago.

B.C. Human Rights Tribunal (HRT) ruled in 2023, the City of Nanaimo discriminated against former chief financial officer Victor Mema, who was employed with the City between 2015 until 2018, awarding him over $640,000.

Mema is of Zimbabwean descent.

While Mema was noted by the HRT for making “poor decisions” regarding the use of the City-issued credit card, the “City’s decisions to suspend and terminate his employment were discriminatory.”

A BC Supreme Court ruling in favour of Mema was revealed in Vancouver on Monday, June 2 following legal arguments in April, reaffirming the HRT ruling backing Mema.

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The high court decision in its entirety can be viewed here.

Mema was suspended by the City with pay in March 2018 and fired about two months later for personal purchases made on a City-issued credit card after the HRT heard he compiled more than $14,000 in personal expenses.

Mema’s termination took place after a misconduct complaint within Mema’s finance department was initiated, aspects of which were heavily scrutinized in the HRT ruling.

The high court re-emphasized an “exaggerated risk” posed by Mema’s City-issued credit card use, despite working with staff toward repayment.

A mischaracterized vehicle allowance outlined in the internal misconduct complaint, which was a City-approved commuting fund, was flagged among several allegations wrongly implying Mema as dishonest and evasive, according to the HRT and reaffirmed by the BC Supreme Court ruling.

In the opinion of the HRT, Mema was falsely and racially portrayed as an official who abused funds, silenced whistleblowers, and avoided accountability.

According to the the BC Supreme Court ruling, the City of Nanaimo argued the HRT unreasonably relied on “hearsay and opinion evidence” in implying discrimination against Mema in the absence of direct evidence.

“I do not accept this argument. The Tribunal has a statutory discretion to receive and accept evidence that it considers necessary and appropriate, irrespective of whether the evidence would be admissible in a court of law.” B.C Supreme Court Justice Michael Thomas ruled.

In a separate professional misconduct ruling last year by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta, Mema was fined $30,000 for his corporate credit card use while employed with the City of Nanaimo.

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