A private investigator was hired by an employer to surreptitiously investigate suspected theft and drug dealing at the employer’s plant in southern Ontario. Following the investigation launched by the employer, a 62 year old employee, who was a long-standing employee and supervisor at the plant, was fired and arrested for theft. He was handed over to the police “on the spot” at his workplace. Unfortunately, the name of the employee, Correia, had got mixed up with the similar name of another employee, Corriero. Apparently, the private investigator did accurately supply the employer with the name of Corriero as the real suspect, an employee who was 40 years younger than Correia. However, the employer mistakenly, and perhaps negligently, identified Correia as the culprit to the police.
There were several issues before the court. One of the issues was whether the former employee could sue the private investigator for negligence. The faithful employee alleged in the lawsuit that the private investigator was careless in his investigation which had led to damages suffered, including post-traumatic stress disorder. You can well imagine what it would be like to be wrongfully arrested on the job in front of fellow employees you have worked with for many years.
The Ontario Court of Appeal determined, as a matter of legal principle, that the former employee could sue the private investigator. The Court of Appeal stated: “As the private sector becomes more and more involved in activities that were traditionally within the sphere of public policing, the greater the likelihood that their negligence could lead to wrongful arrests and even convictions. We see no incoherence in requiring a private investigator to be careful in its investigation; surely the client would expect nothing less from the investigator.” Having determined the new legal principle, the court left the factual issue of whether this particular private investigator was negligent in his investigation to be determined by the trial court on another day. The possible negligence of the employer in identifying the wrong person to the police would also be determined by the trial court.