Report 2011-2012

Wrongdoing Case

A disclosure received under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) made allegations claiming a Correctional Service of Canada employee was regularly misusing a government asset for personal benefit. More specifically, the employee was alleged to have been using – during paid working hours – a Government of Canada computer to prepare accounting documents for a personal family business.

Findings

The investigation revealed that the employee had used the Government of Canada asset (computer) for the benefit of the personal business, and the employee had engaged in this activity for a total of 57 hours – instead of conducting work for which the employee was being paid. During the course of the investigation, it was also found that the employee was making copies of copyrighted movies and selling them to other Correctional Service of Canada employees.

Recommendations and Corrective Action

Administrative measures were taken to recuperate 57 hours of pay from the employee. In addition, the employee was suspended for 20 working days without pay.

The issue surrounding the copyrighted movies was brought to the attention of the police authorities for possible follow-up investigation. As a corrective measure, each employee who had been identified as having purchased a potentially illegal copy of a movie from the wrongdoer was interviewed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and sensitized to the illegal nature of such transactions. In addition, a workshop on Values and Ethics was provided to employees at the work site.