Gilbert S. Keteltas writes: Communications between spouses are typically accorded a “marital communications privilege” because they are “regarded as so essential to the preservation of the marriage relationship as to outweigh the disadvantages to the administration of justice which the privilege entails.” But marital communications to or from a workplace computer just became less privileged…
Category: Workplace
Privacy Breaches Can Be One-Two Punch for Employers: Arbitrator Awards Damages for Employee Credit Checks that Breached Privacy Legislation
Anne Côté and Terri Susan Zurbrigg of Field Law write: Twenty-six employees of the Alberta Justice and Attorney General’s Maintenance Enforcement Program (“MEP”) were each awarded $1250.00 in damages each after a Peace Officer carrying out a workplace investigation used their personal information to conduct an Equifax credit check without their knowledge or consent (the…
The other side of the balance: employer interests, work systems and R v Cole
Dan Michaluk reports: On October 19th the Supreme Court of Canada issued a much-awaited decision for employers across Canada. In R v Cole, it affirmed a Court of Appeal for Ontario finding that a school teacher had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a work-issued laptop. The Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers intervened in Cole at the…
Ca: Supreme Court case on ‘invasive’ random workplace alcohol tests
Natalie Stechyson reports: A union of New Brunswick mill workers arguing that mandatory, random alcohol testing breaches their right to privacy will have their appeal heard by the Supreme Court of Canada Friday. The top court’s eventual decision has the potential to set a precedent for random alcohol tests in the workplace, and employers and…