OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada says Ontario public school board teachers have a Charter-protected right against unreasonable search and seizure in the workplace.
The top court's decision comes today in the case of two teachers who were reprimanded after discovery of a digital log about their work-related concerns.
The case began in the 2014-15 school year when a Grade 2 teacher in York Region began keeping the personal, password-protected log.
The school's principal took screenshots of the log, and they were used by the school board to discipline the teachers.
The union filed a grievance about written reprimands issued to the teachers, saying the board breached their privacy rights.
An arbitrator dismissed the grievance, a decision that was upheld by an Ontario court but later overturned by the province's Court of Appeal.
This report by was first published June 21, 2024.