The eHealth agency is being sued by a firm that was hired to bring senior consultants onboard, CTV Toronto has learned.
The lawsuit stems from a million-dollar contract that eHealth reportedly had with a recruitment firm. The deal was intended to result in the hiring of 15 senior executives.
However, while only five of those positions were filled, most of the contract was paid out, CTV's Paul Bliss reports.
Now, the firm, which is called Egon Zehnder, is suing eHealth for the rest of the money, Bliss adds.
Bliss reports that the firm earned between $72,000 and $86,000 for each candidate it found for eHealth. Egon Zehnder claims that the contract stated that the funds would be paid, even if the candidate was not hired.
Now, the firm claims that it was paid only $845,000 out of a total bill of $1.1 million.
Egon Zehnder has filed a statement of claim that alleges eHealth is refusing to pay the $249,000 which remains on the contract.
When asked about the court action, eHealth told Bliss that it is preparing to defend itself.
However, both eHealth and Egon Zehnder declined further comment because they say the case is before the courts.
Ontario's eHealth program has been slammed as a waste of taxpayer's money after it was revealed that top executives were expensing the government for items such as Tim Horton's coffee, despite earning money from lucrative contracts.
NDP Leader Andrea Howarth said that the court action will cost taxpayers even more money.
"At the end of the day, people are still shaking their heads and saying this government has been completely incompetent in this file, and the most unfortunate thing is, we don't have anything to show for it in terms of electronic health records."
