Emterra Environmental is suing the City of Winnipeg for $67 million for alleged losses between 2012 and 2017.
The lawsuit claims the city treated Emterra “in a high handed, unethical and dishonest manner.”
“It reminded me of the old movies, the Keystone Cops. This is the way city was operating," said Emterra’s lawyer Robert Tapper.
In 2012 when the automated system rolled out, problems with late and missed collection were blamed on Emterra by several people at city hall.
But the lawsuit alleges the city is at fault.
It says the city provided inaccurate maps, addresses and cart data which led to delays and errors. As a result, the claim says Emterra had to pay for extra staff, overtime and more equipment to deal with the mistakes and attempt to catch up.
“It was one thing after another after another." said Tapper.
On top of that, Emterra says it was forced to pay $6 million in performance penalties in part because of the city's errors. And it says some of the complaints which resulted in fines were frivolous and inconsequential.
"Millions of dollars were just disappearing in the ether," said Tapper.
The suit also says Emterra was on the hook for repairs to the automated carts, which it claims are not suitable for Winnipeg winters.
"The carts were disintegrating. They would say ‘that’s you're problem.’ They never tested these things for sub-zero temperatures," said Tapper.
The allegations have not been tested in court and the city is not commenting as it is a matter before the courts.
"I have no doubt our officials will be reviewing it and respond accordingly in due course," said Mayor Brian Bowman.
