On July 2nd, Arbitrator Peltz affirmed the discharge of a university support staff employee who altered billing records for his employer-owned cell phone and later wiped the phone after being directed to retrieve it so it could be examined.
The grievor worked in the university’s technology transfer office in a position of trust. After the university confronted him about excessive personal use of his phone the grievor deleted parts of phone records that showed his calling history. These records were stored on a university shared drive and were therefore to accessible to other employees in the grievor’s department. The grievor said he did this because he was concerned about the disclosure of his call history.
The university discovered the alterations. It called the grievor to an investigation meeting in which it heard the grievor’s position and advised the grievor that he would be placed on paid leave pending an examination of his cell phone and computer records. The grievor went to his office to retrieve his phone. When he did not return his supervisor investigated and found the grievor wiping his phone. The grievor continued over over his supervisor’s direction to stop, responding “I’m just deleting my personal information.”
Arbitrator Peltz found the grievor’s alteration of records to be culpable. He commented:
It is one thing to say that digital privacy is now highly valued in Canadian society. It is something else to claim a unilateral self help remedy without even consulting the employer whose records are being altered.
Arbitrator Peltz also held that the grievor was insubordinate because he intentionally frustrated the university’s plan to conduct a reasonable search. He said that the university had a reasonable concern about “all the greivor’s communications” and that due diligence required a “complete review, excepting personal matters.” Some effort to minimize the impact of the search may have been required according to Arbitrator Peltz, but the grievor should have stated his privacy concern rather than take matters into his own hands by wiping his phone.
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