Jumping the Gun on Surveillance can Shoot down your Case

By Fasken Martineau

When confronted with information that an employee may be abusing paid sick leave, it is only natural for an employer to want to investigate further. One way in which employers may do this is through surreptitious surveillance of the employee. However, a recent arbitration decision in British Columbia shows the potential price tag where an employer acts precipitously in engaging in employee surveillance and then subsequently relies on the surveillance when disciplining or discharging the employee:Unifor, Local 433 v. Crown Packaging Ltd. (PDF), (Giesbrecht Grievance), [2014] B.C.C.A.A.A. No. 43 (Dorsey). In this decision, a labour arbitrator refused to consider the employer’s video surveillance of the employee in a dismissal grievance because the employer had engaged in the surveillance without proper regard to the relevant legal requirements.  Read More...