Privacy
Privacy Commissioner rebukes companies/law firms for disclosing sensitive employee information during transaction
Published in Lawson Lundell LLP Labour and Employment Newsletter (Summer 2005)
The Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner (the "Commissioner") recently found two companies and their respective law firms in breach of Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act ("PIPA") in their handling of sensitive employee information while acting for their clients during an acquisition.
Background
Builders Energy Services Ltd., ("Builders") was in the process of acquiring several companies including Remote Wire Line Services Ltd. ("Remote"). Both companies hired law firms to assist with the transaction.
Attached to the purchase and sale agreement was a Schedule that was to include a list of Remote's employees, employment agreements, and details regarding its employee benefit plans. read more »
"Privacy Considerations in Business Transactions"
A lawyer at Parlee McLaws LLP in Calgary has written a paper entitled "Privacy Considerations in Business Transactions" for the Canadian Privacy Law Review.
The paper includes sample representations and warranties concerning privacy matters that can be used in a purchase and sale agreement.
"Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance"
Christopher McHardy, Tina Giesbrecht and Peter Brady - lawyers at McCarthy Tetrault - have prepared a paper on"Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance" (March 11, 2005).
The paper's introduction states:
In the last decade, new technologies in the workplace have changed the way we do work and the way we manage employees. Beyond the production and cost benefits, these technologies have both increased employer risks relating to employee misconduct and improved employer tools to manage and address such misconduct.The increased risks and improved tools have resulted in increased use of surveillance and monitoring and an increase in the tension between management rights and employee privacy. The introduction of privacy legislation in Canada has further increased this tension. This paper looks at the way in which new privacy legislation is influencing the way courts and arbitrators are balancing the right of employers to know and manage versus privacy rights employees may have in the workplace.
"Human Rights, Privacy and the Workplace"
"Human Rights, Privacy and the Workplace" is the title of a paper written by Enid J. Marion and Andrea Zappavigna, both of Harris & Company in Vancouver.
The paper was written for the Human Rights Conference (Continuing Legal Education of BC) in November 2004.
The Table of Contents is as follows: read more »
"Common Employment Pitfalls Facing Technology Companies"
David Little, a lawyer at Fraser Milner Cagrain, has written a newsletter article entitled, "Common Employment Pitfalls Facing Technology Companies" (October 2003).
