A recent Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) trial decided in the favour of two Ontario teachers whose private communication had been viewed, recorded and shared them with the school board, which used the screenshots to issue reprimands.
The decision, York Region District School Board v. Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, overturns an arbitrator’s decision dating back to 2015, when the teachers’ union filed a grievance against the disciplinary action, saying the teachers’ right to privacy at work had been violated.
A judicial review by a Divisional Court upheld the arbitrator’s decision, then the Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the union’s appeal, finding that the principal’s viewing of the teacher’s laptop was a violation of Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
