TDSB: Camera in the clock went too far

Recently, multiple media reporters asked for my legal opinion on a case with Orwellian facts, placing the Toronto District School Board in the role of "Big Brother."

Courtney Carroll, a principal and educator for more than 20 years, was under secret surveillance, at the behest of the TDSB, to determine if he was using working hours to write his second novel (a more heinous crime I cannot imagine. What lengths might it go to if it suspected a teacher of theft or child abuse?) Carroll learned he was being watched when a maintenance worker found a camera hidden inside a clock in his private office. The TDSB has since disclosed Carroll had been under surveillance for months. The board collected intimate video, including footage of Carroll changing his clothes and video of a staffmember using the office to breastfeed her child.

This was not an isolated incident. The TDSB had engaged in secret surveillance of other employees. Other school boards, including those of Peel and York Region, also reported using cameras to monitor employees.  (more...)

Camera in the clock went too far