An attempt to identify the whistleblowers who denounced shortcomings in a shelter for young people in difficulty in Baie-Comeau has just failed before an arbitration tribunal. A grievance arbitrator has declared that the emails of six employees of the Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) of the North Shore were spied on by the employer “without reasonable grounds”.
These emails were obtained illegally and are not admissible as evidence, arbitrator Jean-Yves Brière ruled in a decision dated March 23, 2023.
This story dates back to March 2021. An investigation by the Duty revealed a series of flaws in the services of the Pavillon Richelieu in Baie-Comeau, which housed about forty young people supervised by the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ). The center lacked premises and staff. Children and adolescents were disturbed by the instability of schedules. Some were in school part-time.
The CISSS de la Côte-Nord has taken a series of measures to rectify the situation. At the same time, he also sought to identify the employees who had reported the shortcomings to journalist Stéphanie Vallet, from Duty. These workers committed a “breach of confidentiality”, according to the organization that manages the Côte-Nord health network.
In a 54-page decision, grievance arbitrator Jean-Yves Brière found the CISSS wrong. “The objective pursued by the employer is confused. Did he want to protect confidential information or was he resentful that certain working conditions were exposed publicly? he writes.
The arbitrator points out that the article of the Duty “does not contain any confidential information” allowing the identification of young people.
It recognizes that a public body such as a CISSS “has a rational reason to ensure that its personnel do not disclose any confidential information concerning users. However, the Court considers that the employer did not have serious and reasonable grounds which justified it having access to the e-mails of these employees. »
Jean-Yves Brière argues that the employer’s attempt to identify the whistleblowers violated “fundamental rights […] extremely important in a free and democratic society”. CISSS managers notably chose “arbitrarily” the six employees whose emails were spied on. They also monitored their internet browsing.
The employees “were entitled to expect” that their communications with their union “would not be intercepted”, specifies the grievance arbitrator.
Substantive debate
Maude Fréchette, union representative of the Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS), is satisfied with this interlocutory award, which mainly concerns the lack of justification by the CISSS de la Côte-Nord to consult the emails from employees without their knowledge.
The fundamental debate remains to be done between the grievances of the employer and those of the union. The CISSS argues that the union encouraged its members to collect confidential information about clients and disseminate it in the public space. The APTS affirms that its approach was rather aimed at revealing facts of public interest which affected the working conditions of its members (and which had been discussed internally), without compromising the confidentiality of the files under the responsibility of the DYP. .
Does the CISSS de la Côte-Nord maintain its grievances, given the arbitration decision that has just been rendered? “We have just learned of the decision and it is currently being analyzed internally. Under the circumstances, we have no comments to make at this time,” said Pascal Paradis, Deputy CEO and Head of Media Relations.