TORONTO - Ontario's highest court has closed the door on a pension increase for fired Hydro One executive Eleanor Clitheroe.
Clitheroe sued Hydro One seeking to have her pension raised to $33,644.21 a month -- slightly more than the average Hydro One pensioner gets annually.
The lawsuit was originally dismissed, but in appealing it to the Court of Appeal Clitheroe noted she worked 16-hour days and earned bonuses for her performance and is the only income earner for a family of four.
In a brief decision released Friday, the court dismissed the appeal saying Clitheroe had made the same arguments at trial and the appeal court agreed with the trial judge's reasons and conclusion.
Clitheroe's pension is capped at $25,637.08 a month due to legislation passed by the government that limits executive salaries at the utility.
Clitheroe was dismissed in July, 2002 after weeks of controversy over executive salaries at the publicly owned transmission utility.
Clitheroe earned $741,000 in 1999, $1.4 million in 2000, $1.7 million in 2001 and $1.5 million in 2002.
In 2001, her last full year of work at Hydro One, she took home more than $2.2 million, including $174,000 for a car and $172,000 for vacation.
She has since become an Anglican priest.
