Privilege Over Whistleblower Investigation Files

The recent Alberta Court of Queen's Bench decision in Talisman Energy Inc v Flo-Dynamics Systems Inc. confirms that privilege is not absolute in whistleblower investigations.

Background

The background to the decision involved a common scenario: an employee and a consultant to Talisman allegedly directed significant business to a company they owned, the defendant Flo-Dynamics Systems.

The issue came to Talisman's attention through an anonymous whistleblower. Talisman immediately commenced an investigation, led by one of its in-house lawyers. Talisman's internal whistleblower investigation generated 550 documents, prior to the retainer of external legal counsel. The defendants sought production of this whistleblower file, while Talisman asserted it was privileged.