The Supreme Court of Canada, in R. v. Cole, 2012 SCC 53 (CanLII) recently confirmed that Canadians may reasonably expect privacy in the information contained on their workplace computers. The case involved a teacher whose board-issued laptop was found by a technician to contain child pornography. The laptop was seized and handed over to police,...Continue Reading

In a recent wrongful dismissal case, the British Columbia Supreme Court provided some useful guidelines around how (and how not) to conduct effective workplace investigations.  The Plaintiff, Stephanie Vernon, was an employee of the BC Liquor Distribution Branch for over 30 years.  She was the subject of a complaint in which it was alleged that her conduct...Continue Reading

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruling in R v. Cole (a criminal case involving allegations of possession of child pornography found on a teacher’s board-issued laptop) has significant implications in the employment law realm. The issue before the Court was whether or not the search and seizure of the entire hard disk on the employee’s laptop...Continue Reading