Brampton staffer paid over $288,000 in 2022 hasn’t worked for City Hall in a year

Brampton’s highest-earning staffer in 2022 was paid some $300,000 in salary and benefits despite not working for the City in over a year.

The province’s annual sunshine list came out on Friday, naming all public sector employees in Ontario who earn $100,000 or more. And for the second year in a row, Brampton’s top-paid employee doesn’t actually work for the city anymore.

The list shows the City’s highest-paid employee for 2022 was David Barrick – a former Chief Administrative Officer who was let go in February of 2022.

Barrick was reportedly paid $288,272 by the City in 2023 with another $18,243 in benefits – over $22,000 more than the City’s Acting Commissioner of  Legislative Services Paul Morrison and some $48,000 more than Brampton Fire and Emergency Services Chief Bill Boyes.

The former CAO’s salary also eclipses that of Mayor Patrick Brown, who made around $164,900 last year in salary and benefits,  according to the list.

David Barrick was let go as Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Brampton in February 2022.

The 2022 sunshine list marks the second year in a row that a former CAO has topped the City’s highest-paid employee, with former Brampton chief administrative officer (CAO) Harry Schlange at the top of the salary pyramid for 2021 despite not working for the City of Brampton in over three years.

Barrick was hired in October 2019 but was suddenly replaced in a special council meeting on Feb. 11, 2022 following a swath of boycotted council meetings. Council unanimously appointed Morrison as the interim CAO following Barrick’s departure.

The former CAO came under fire after a city staffer said she was let go, accusing Barrick and others of misconduct. Members of council later requested that Peel Regional Police and the Ontario Ombudsman investigate allegations, with police reporting no evidence of criminal wrongdoing while the ombudsman declined to investigate.

The City issued an apology to Barrick in January “for the unfounded investigations and associated confidentiality and personal privacy breaches he experienced during his tenure with the City,” a statement from the City reads.