Crime at work: The sometimes criminal consequences of workplace misconduct

Misconduct at work is typically met with discipline or, if particularly bad, perhaps dismissal. There are occasions, however, where employee misconduct will also merit criminal charges. One such high profile example is R. v. Cole where Mr. Cole, a high school teacher, was found to have stored nude and semi-nude photos of an underage female student on his work-provided laptop. Mr. Cole lost his job and was charged with possession of child pornography.

A more recent criminal case that was borne out of workplace misconduct, and resulted in termination and criminal charges, is R. v. Dewan. This case came before the Ontario Court of Appeal in October 2014.