Newfoundland and Labrador's suspended child and youth advocate is going to court to try to get the right to defend herself in the provincial legislature.

Darlene Neville was suspended with pay Aug. 20 after the government said it had received complaints from staff about her management style.

Neville was in the middle of several high-profile investigations, including a case in Labrador involving the deaths of two children in Labrador in 2008 that her staff believed didn't warrant an investigation.

Neville's lawyer, Bern Coffey, said she responded to her suspension in writing to Gary Norris, clerk of the executive council and secretary to the provincial cabinet.

As well, she filed an application in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to be heard by the legislature if a resolution is introduced calling for her removal or suspension from the child and youth advocate's office.

In her submission to Norris, Neville said her suspension is tantamount to a "hanging before the trial."

Wrote letter of reprimand

Neville said it all started when she wrote a letter of reprimand to an administrative officer who, she felt, wasn't doing her job in the preparation of budget estimates.

Neville wrote that if the legislature followed its own policies, it would have learned that she was making a "legitimate criticism of [the officer's] work performance," and that the person had "a previous history of work performance issues."

Staff also complained that work "languished" in the office and that Neville was "obsessed" with getting subpoena power.

Neville said those staff members didn't grasp the fact that unless government gave her subpoena power, investigations were on hold. That is because staff at the province's largest health authority — Eastern Health — were refusing to participate in several of the probes underway.

Another problem staff had was her acting on referrals from politicians or the media.

Neville also mentioned a case she took on after it was referred to her by the premier's office. She quotes a staff member as having said, "Danny Williams should have to take a number and stand in line with everybody else."

Neville said nowhere else in government would staff have been permitted and encouraged to file a complaint because they were simply asked to do their jobs.

Former provincial court judge John Rorke has been appointed interim child and youth advocate.