Judicial review not the regular means to challenge PIPEDA investigation reports

On January 15th the Federal Court dismissed two judicial review applications brought by a self represented applicant who took issue with two OPC investigation findings made under under PIPEDA. The Court held that an application under section 14 of PIPEDA, which invites a de novo hearing, was an adequate alternative remedy to judicial review:

In conclusion, I find that there is an adequate alternative remedy provided by section 14 of the PIPEDA that would have been the appropriate recourse to deal with all matters raised concerning the complaint, the OPC reports and the investigation that followed. When comparing the recourse provided by section 14 of the PIPEDA with the possibilities offered by judicial review, which is discretionary and extraordinary in nature and limited to the review of the reports and the documentation contained in the certified record, I find that the former is the appropriate recourse as the intent of the legislator to this effect is clear. I will not therefore exercise my discretion to judicially review the reports of the Privacy Commissioner, and I will dismiss both applications for judicial review.

In making this finding the Court suggested that a judicial review application to allege bias or that the OPC committed some other procedural injustice might be amenable to judicial review.

Kniss v Canada (Privacy Commissioner), 2013 FCC 31.

Arbitrator says that an employer owes an employee no duty to investigate reasonably suspected wrondoing

On December 21st, Ontario arbitrator Ian Anderson dismissed a termination grievance brought by an employee who was terminated for bringing personal computing devices into a high-security workplace and downloading significant volumes of unauthorized (and risky) software onto an employer’s network.

The outcome is driven by the facts, but Arbitrator Anderson did deal with an asserted employer duty to investigate suspected wrongdoing. He dismissed the union’s argument that the employer could not charge the grievor with the downloading offence given it did not investigate and discover the grievor’s downloading sooner, at the same time it discovered and disciplined the grievor with excessive internet use. Arbitrator Anderson said:

The Union suggests that an employer has a responsibility to investigate potential misconduct of which it has reasonable suspicion. Put differently, the Union suggests that in order to justify discipline delayed on the basis of earlier lack of knowledge of the alleged misconduct, there must previously have been no reasonable basis to suspect that misconduct.

The Union’s argument, as I understand it, is not restricted to circumstances that might give rise to estoppel. Absent some provision in the collective agreement, I do not agree that there is such a general duty of investigation on an employer. Nor, in my view, is this proposition supported by the cases relied upon by the Union.

General Dynamics Land Systems v National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union (Caw-Canada, Local no 27), 2012 CanLII 86240 (ON LA).

Judicial review petitition moot after requester loses interest in obtaining access to record

On January 8th, the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed a British Columbia Lottery Corporation petition for judicial review because the requester was no longer interested in receiving a copy of the policies and procedures manual at issue. It rejected the BCLC’s argument that the petition should be heard because of the prejudice it would face in dealing with future requests for the same record, stating “If, in the future, some other party seeks production of the Manual, the Commissioner will have to decide the matter based on the law and evidence as it then exists.”

British Columbia Lottery Corporation v Dyson, 2013 BCSC 11 (CanLII).

BC access decision quashed for improper consideration of expert evidence

On January 8th, the Supreme Court of British Columbia quashed an access decision because the Commissioner admitted opinion evidence, but did not consider it to be expert evidence.

The Court differed with the Commissioner in finding that the opinion was “necessary” to resolve an issue about whether the disclosure of sales data, by postal code, could reasonably be expected to cause economic harm to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation. The Commissioner held that the opinion was unnecessary because it went to the very question before her. The Court held that the opinion was necessary because it went to constituent facts such as whether the data had monetary value and could provide grey market competitors with a competitive advantage. Given the opinion met the criteria for admissibility, the Court held the Commissioner erred in law by failing to consider it as expert evidence. It said, “Opinion evidence is only admissible as expert evidence.”

British Columbia Lottery Corporation v Skelton, 2013 BCSC 12 (CanLII).

ABCA stands up for settlement privilege

On January 21st, the Court of Appeal of Alberta refused to make an exception to settlement privilege to allow a party to answer a limitation period defence. In seeming to answer the deciding master’s comment that settlement privilege is not as “robust” a form of privilege as others, the Court said, “for the rule to operate properly, not only must the ambit of the settlement privilege be broad, but the exceptions to the exclusionary rule must be narrowly construed and only be given effect where another policy objective can be shown to outweigh any impact that may arise to the settlement objective.” It held that settlement privilege should not normally give way to allow a party to answer a limitations defence and held there was nothing about the circumstances to justify making an exception.

Bellatrix Exploration Ltd v Penn West Petroleum Ltd, 2013 ABCA 10 (CanLII).

Facebook’s Graph Search: New Privacy Concerns?

According to a CBC News article (here), early reviews of Facebook’s new Graph Search feature are raising privacy concerns.  The search feature appears to be eerily effective in mining Facebook users’ information in responding to search queries.

For employers who may be considering using social media to verify information about current or prospective employees, the depth of information revealed by Graph Search highlights the risk that obtaining information through social media could amount to an invasion of privacy, or conflict with human rights laws (see the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on using Facebook information).  Employers should tread carefully before using social media to obtain information about current or prospective employees, since the resulting information (even if obtained inadvertently) could create unanticipated liabilities.

Government limits use of external drives, to avoid data breaches

Here is a link to an interesting Postmedia article on how HRSDC is moving to limit use by employees of portable data devices, following several incidents in which external drives containing Canadians’ personal information were lost or misplaced.  There are many compelling reasons for employers to control how and when employees can remove data from the workplace, such as preventing data breaches, minimizing wrongful competition by employees or former employees, and avoiding claims for breach of privacy.

BYOD policy – Charting a good path to higher ground

This is just a cross-post to a piece of mine that we’ve published  on the Hicks Morley website. Here’s a link and a teaser:

The desire to use personal mobile devices to undertake work has risen like the incoming tide. Employers must make a choice: turn the tide on the use of personal devices by re-enforcing an outright ban or chart a thoughtful path to higher “Bring Your Own Device” or “BYOD” ground. Employers that do neither will sink into the mire of unreasonable IT security risk. This FTR Now discusses the pros and cons of adopting policy that allows employees to use a personal mobile device for work and the aims of proper BYOD policy.

Docs obtained under access legislation producible in litigation despite any government interest

On January 10th, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal held that various RCMP records obtained by a plaintiff under access legislation and listed in her Schedule B were producible notwithstanding her privilege claim.

The Court, in essence, rejected the plaintiff’s suggestion that the RCMP had a continuing interest in the plaintiff’s use of the documents. It held that the Wagg screening process for dealing with production and use of Crown brief materials did not apply because the plaintiff did not obtain the records from the Crown pursuant to the Stinchcombe duty. Similarly, it held the documents could not be subject to public interest privilege given they had been produced by the RCMP pursuant to an access reqeust. The Court commented:

Ms. Bennett’s claim that “[f]rom a public policy perspective a person should be able to access their personal information which is held by any government department including the RCMP without fear that once they access that information it could be subject to production to a stranger by virtue of litigation” is irreconcilable with the disclosure obligations of a party who launches a civil action where the documents are relevant to the subject-matter of the claim.

The Court also held the records were not subject to litigation privilege, though obtained by the plaintiff’s counsel after the start of litigation.

Bennett v State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, 2013 NBCA 4 (CanLII).

Turn in the tide on Facebook photos as evidence?

I believe we’re seeing a slow retreat from the view expressed in Leduc v Roman, a 2009 Ontario case in which Justice Brown suggested photos on Facebook are presumptively relevant (in a non-production scenario) when a Facebooking plaintiff claims loss of enjoyment of life.

Stewart v Kempster is the new Ontario case that awkwardly distinguishes Leduc and is similar to Fric v Gershman from British Columbia. Both suggest that pictures of people who claim to have suffered a loss of enjoyment of life lounging around looking happy are generally not relevant (or have limited probative value), but pictures of skydiving, surfing and other action photos might be different.

Now, from British Columbia again, we have the following statement from Dakin v Roth, a January 8th British Columbia Supreme Court trial decision in which the plaintiff produced Facebook photos that the defendant adduced, perhaps without dispute. Justice Cole says:

The defendants have entered into evidence photos posted on the plaintiff’s Facebook between 2007 and 2009, which the defendants say are inconsistent with her physical limitations.

I do not place much weight on those photographs. They are staged, at a party, and taken on holidays. As stated by Mr. Justice Goepel in Guthrie v Narayan, 2012 BCSC 734 (CanLII), 2012 BCSC 734 (at para. 30) in respect to Facebook photos: “Those pictures are of limited usefulness. [The plaintiff] is seeking compensation for what she has lost, not what she can still do.” I agree.

Hat tip to Erik Magraken of the BC Injury Law and ICBC Claims Blog. Here is a link to an archive of Erik’s posts on Facebook photos in British Columbia personal injury cases.