Prepared by M.L. MacInnis
Doug Schmidt, CA, is an employee of the Ministry of the Environment. His duties include periodic inspection of companies that deal with toxic waste. This is to ensure that these companies comply with provincial standards and guidelines on waste management. Doug has worked for the Ministry for over twenty years and is expected to retire in the next five. It has come to the attention of his superior, Mary Webber, that upon retirement Doug plans to act as a consultant for Green Clean Ltd., a waste management firm that happens to be subject to the Ministry’s inspections. Further investigation has found that Schmidt has received payments from Green Clean totaling $10,000. His explanation for the payments is that Green Clean wanted to make sure that they would have the exclusive rights to his services upon retirement.
What should Mary and the Ministry do?