Criminal Sentence For Unauthorized Access Of Former Co-Worker’s E-Mail Reduced On Appeal

A terminated employee was convicted of "Mischief to Data" and "Unauthorized use of a Computer" contrary to the Criminal Code after he remotely accessed a former co-worker's e-mail without her authorization and forwarded several e-mails to his personal account. In this recent appeal decision, the Summary Conviction Appeal Court reduced the terminated employee's sentence to a conditional discharge after taking into consideration, among other things, the potential impact of a criminal conviction on his current and potential employment opportunities.

In R. v. Charania, the appellant was terminated from his employment as the Director of Care at a nursing home. Later that same evening, the appellant used the username and password of Ms. Caven, the Human Resources Coordinator at the nursing home, to remotely access her e-mail. Once in her e-mail, the appellant forwarded several e-mails relating to their meeting and his employment to his personal e-mail account. At the same