Resources: Privacy + FOI
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Ontario Court of Appeal Finds School Board Breached Section 8 of the Charter When Disciplining Grievors for Personal Document Left Open on School Computer
May 15, 2023
In Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario v. York Region District School Board, 2022 ONCA 476, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that a school principal and the school board for which he worked had breached the employee right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”) when the principal went through a teacher’s personal document on a school laptop.
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Significant Changes Coming in 2023 for BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
December 6, 2022
The Provincial government has recently confirmed the latest in a series of long-anticipated and significant changes to BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”). As of February 1, 2023, two new sections of FIPPA and associated regulations will come into force.
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Bill C-27: Summary of Key Proposed Changes
September 29, 2022
On June 16, 2022, the federal government introduced Bill C-27, “An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts.”
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Bill C-27: Federal Government Introduces Legislation Overhauling Canada’s Federal Privacy Laws
June 20, 2022
On June 16, 2022 the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti introduced Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act (the “Act”). Bill C-27 is an update to Bill C-11, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, introduced in 2020. As it currently stands, the Act proposes to enact three new pieces of federal legislation.
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The Anti-Racism Data Act and the Changing Approach to Data Privacy
May 17, 2022
B.C.’s privacy legislation has typically meant that employers have avoided or limited the collection of demographic data from applicants and employees. However, the Province’s recent introduction of the Anti-Racism Data Act signals that change is coming, specifically at the intersection between privacy and human rights law. Employers in British Columbia will want to monitor this evolving approach to privacy and data management.
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Is a Complainant No Longer Required to Show that Conduct was “Objectively Unwelcome” to Substantiate a Claim of Sexual Harassment?
March 31, 2022
In the recent decision of Ms. K. v. Deep Creek Store and another, 2021 BCHRT 158, the BC Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) declined to follow a long line of human rights case law which requires a complainant to show that conduct was “objectively unwelcome” to substantiate a claim of sexual harassment.
This decision represents a break from the established jurisprudence and should be of interest to employers faced with a claim of sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Is This Thing On?: Surreptitious Recording Can Constitute Just Cause for Dismissal
March 17, 2022
Your employee places their cellphone on the table as they sit down for the meeting, angling it slightly towards you. You wonder – is this meeting being recorded?
The ubiquity of cellphones means that HR professionals should assume all conversations with employees are being recorded. But are there any consequences for employees who secretly record conversations with colleagues?
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Insolence, Insubordination and After-Acquired Evidence of Just Cause
March 11, 2022
On November 9, 2021, the B.C. Supreme Court released its decision in the case of Golob v. Fort St. John (City), 2021 BCSC 2192.
The case concerned a wrongful dismissal claim against the City of Fort St. John by its former Deputy Fire Chief.
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Clarification to Law of Employee Surveillance
March 2, 2022
Elevator law, according to one colleague and despite our best attempts to intervene, has its ups and downs. It has a unique set of characteristics, including its own elevator union (the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC)), industry-specific collective agreements and a workforce of largely independent technicians.
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