Employee Taking Videos of Customer Results in Termination for Cause

November 2019

Barry W. Kwasniewski

On September 30, 2019, the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick (the “Court”) released its decision in Durant v Aviation A. Auto Inc. (“Durant”), finding that an employee’s surreptitious taking of photograph and videos of a female customer without her consent or knowledge constituted just cause for the employee’s dismissal from employment. In this motion for summary judgment, the Court applied a contextual approach to determine that the employee, Robert Durant’s (“Mr. Durant”) misconduct was egregious as it invaded the female customer’s privacy, which was incompatible with Mr. Durant’s employment obligations towards his employer, Aviation A. Auto Inc. This Charity & NFP Law Bulletin summarizes the Court’s reasoning in Durant, the principles of which are relevant to charities and not-for-profits as employers. 

For the balance of this Bulletin, please see Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 458.

Read the November 2019 Charity & NFP Law Update