The B.C. premier’s office says its firing of an employee who was under investigation by the RCMP for allegedly leaking “sensitive and classified intelligence” in a previous post with the federal government was done for cause.

In February, John Robert Pratt filed a civil suit in B.C. Supreme Court against Premier David Eby’s office seeking general and special damages for wrongful dismissal.

Pratt was the acting executive director of international relations in the Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat prior to his dismissal in December, when the province said his employment was “no longer tenable.”

In a response to that civil claim filed March 30, the premier’s office said it “never would have hired the plaintiff had it known about the unauthorized disclosures or investigation.”

The claim said Pratt began work in July 2024 for the Office of the Premier as an adviser in international relations. Six months later, he became manager of U.S. relations in the intergovernmental relations secretariat.

In June 2025, he moved up the ranks again after a competitive hiring process, becoming acting executive director of international relations, where he reported directly to the deputy minister of the Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat, called the IGRS, and was responsible for the supervision of four employees.

Pratt was only one month into that role when he was arrested and detained by RCMP officers in relation to alleged conduct in his previous job with the federal Privy Council Office, where he was employed from May 2022 to February 2023, according to court documents.

The Privy Council Office determined the evidence it gathered raised “national security concerns” sufficient to refer to the RCMP.

Pratt was not charged and was released the same day without conditions.

That day, however, Pratt was suspended with pay pending the conclusion of a workplace investigation.

According to Pratt’s claim, the province said it became aware that Pratt was arrested by the RCMP as part of an ongoing investigation.

The premier’s office in its response to the civil claim said the investigation by the federal Privy Council Office “revealed a character flaw so incompatible” with the discharge of Pratt’s duties that “it rendered the employment relationship no longer viable.

The Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat, where Pratt worked, is the primary point of contact between the premier’s office, intergovernmental relations ministries across Canada, the Privy Council Office and Global Affairs Canada.

The IGRS, meanwhile, works closely with Canadian and foreign embassies and consulates as well as U.S. state governors’ offices and cross-border organizations.

Even if Pratt had not been fired, he would never have obtained the required security clearance from the federal government, the premier’s office says in its statement of defence.

As a result of his failure or inability to receive this required level of security clearance, “the plaintiff was unable to meet one of the fundamental terms of his employment with the IGRS,” the court document said.

It also said Pratt’s alleged “unauthorized disclosures breached his obligations of faithfulness and honesty and fatally undermined the employer’s confidence” in him.

The premier’s office said in its statement that Pratt’s failure to disclose the Privy Council Office’s investigation during the hiring process with the province or any time prior to his firing constituted a “material omission.”

That material omission was a “breach” of Pratt’s “duty of honesty” to the province, which “in all of the circumstances amounted to just cause for termination,” it said.

The province said it interviewed the two references Pratt provided when he applied to work in the premier’s office, but neither had worked with him in the Privy Council Office.

If Pratt is entitled to notice or pay, any entitlement would be “minimal,” given his short length of service and his age and would be based on his annual salary of $86,150, the premier’s office said.

In his lawsuit, Pratt claimed he received notice on Dec. 11, 2025, saying he was terminated “effective immediately.” The filing said that at the time, Pratt was 35 and being paid $124,700 a year.

The province provided no notice, or pay in lieu of notice, for his termination, Pratt’s civil claim said.

The province said it did not proceed with an investigation, given the Privy Council Office’s 2023 administrative investigation that determined Pratt was responsible for the “unauthorized disclosure” of documents.

Sarah Klinger, Pratt’s lawyer, said in February that Pratt was unaware of any investigation into his conduct by the Privy Council Office, “which raises issues of administrative fairness,” and that the alleged conduct did not relate to his duties with the B.C. government.

In an email to the Times Colonist on Thursday, Klinger confirmed the RCMP investigation is ongoing “and no charges have been laid against my client.” Klinger added that the “facts as set out in the Response to Civil Claim are denied.”

The legal basis for suing, according to the plaintiff’s claim, is that “an employer who relies on the defence of just cause has the onus of proving it,” and the employee claiming wrongful dismissal “need only show that he or she has been dismissed without sufficient notice.”

[email protected]