Manitoba nurse was paid nearly $50K instead of $500 he was owed: federal suit

Posted on November 26, 2024 by Peggy

A system error caused Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to send a Manitoba nurse nearly $50,000 — 100 times more than he was actually owed — and he has not returned all of the money after almost two years, a lawsuit from the federal government alleges.

Canada’s attorney general is suing Brenden Stevenson, a former licensed practical nurse at a hospital in Peguis First Nation, for nearly $52,000 on top of monthly compounding interest, according to a statement of claim filed at the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench last week.

Stevenson invoiced Indigenous Services Canada — which funds and operates the hospital where he worked — for $493.50 on Nov. 7, 2022 to reimburse his membership renewal fee at Manitoba’s College of Licensed Practical Nurses, but ISC incorrectly sent him $49,350, the lawsuit says.

None of the allegations have been tested in court. A statement of defence has yet to be filed.

ISC discovered the overpayment five days after it was sent to Stevenson, the suit says. A representative sent an email to notify him of that fact, saying Stevenson had no legal entitlement to the money, according to the suit.

The representative contacted the hospital’s patient services director after not hearing back from Stevenson for more than a week. In an email to ISC about two weeks later Stevenson acknowledged that the overpayment was a mistake, the suit claims.

Stevenson had yet to pay back the full amount of the overpayment as of Oct. 31 of this year, the suit alleges.

ISC retrieved about $700 in total from two of Stevenson’s paycheques in early 2023, but he quit his job later that spring, the suit says. ISC recovered nearly $2,400 more from Stevenson in November 2023, from a retroactive payment under a new collective agreement.

Stevenson now owes nearly $52,000, as the agency began to charge interest on the overpayment in March 2023, the suit claims He was unjustly enriched by the overpayment, resulting in loss and damages for ISC, the suit says.

CBC News got in touch with Stevenson, who says he has yet to be served the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of ISC, which did not provide comment prior to publication.