Case Note: Employer's Clandestine Video Surveillance Excluded From Arbitration

A BC arbitrator refused to admit clandestine video surveillance evidence in support of a termination of a 34-year employee in Unifor, Local 433 v Crown Packaging Ltd., 2014 CanLII 18105. The surveillance was undertaken when the grievor suffered a coincidental injury after being denied time off due to operational needs and the employer had suspicions about the bona fides of the injury. The arbitrator held that nothing in the pre-existing employment relationship warranted the employer's suspicions, even though they turned out to be correct. As no reasonable basis existed for the employer's invasion of the grievor's right of privacy, the surveillance violated BC's information privacy legislation. The employer had less intrusive means of assessing the legitimacy of the grievor's injury available to it that it had not pursued.