Former IT manager loses B.C. court battle over stolen files

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered a former District of Saanich IT manager to destroy copies of internal files leaked to his son.

At hearings earlier this year, former IT manager Guy Gondor denied he provided the documents to his son, who used them as evidence in a dispute against neighbours. 

The judgment is the latest development in a privacy breach dispute between Gondor and the largest municipality on Vancouver Island. Last year, the province filed a rare petition asking the B.C. Supreme Court to step in.

On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Gomery ruled against Gondor, who worked at the district as an IT manager until February 2022.

"Despite Mr. Gondor's denial, I am led to the conclusion that he was the responsible individual," Gomery said in his ruling.

He added "inconsistencies and difficulties in Mr. Gondor's evidence" made him skeptical of the former IT manager's account of events. 

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for B.C.'s attorney general said the province was pleased with the court's decision, and it would do everything it could to keep people's personal information safe.

Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the attorney general has the authority to apply for court orders on behalf of a public body to force people to return or destroy private information if they aren't authorized to have it.

The court heard how leaked district files were sent to Gondor's son, Darian, who has been fighting with neighbours and the district for years to turn his Meadowbrook Ridge property into a hobby farm.

Court documents show he and his neighbours filed several bylaw complaints against each other, with up to 50 filed against Darian Gondor alone.

In March 2022, according to the judgment, Gondor sent the District of Saanich an email complaining about a neighbour cutting down trees. He attached two documents containing personal information.

According to the judgment, Gondor was not authorized to have those documents. Public dissemination of the information breached provincial privacy law. 

He had previously filed freedom of information requests to get documents concerning his neighbours, according to the judgment. None of these requests produced the two documents