City worker accused of time theft over lunch breaks
An arbitrator has ruled that GPS trackers in company vehicles and posts on a personal fitness app can be fair game in a workplace investigation, upholding an employer's evidence in a dispute over an employee's long lunch breaks.
In a decision dated Aug. 19, 2026, arbitrator Christopher Foy ruled in Coquitlam (City) v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 386 that the City of Coquitlam could rely on GPS vehicle data and Strava running posts to investigate time theft by a union member.
Foy found just cause to discipline the worker but ruled termination excessive, ordering reinstatement without back pay.
A member of the public's complaint about a city vehicle parked for hours outside a residential building set the case in motion. That complaint led investigators to another employee's excessive gym visits, then to a five-person tree maintenance crew that included the worker at the centre of this case.
The city pulled GPS records for the arborist covering roughly six months, from May through October 2025.
The union argued the GPS evidence should be excluded because the city gave no notice under British Columbia's freedom of information law before collecting his location data.
Foy disagreed, finding that a decal posted inside city vehicles, combined with policy training dating to 2014, met the notice requirement, and noted arbitrators have broad discretion under the Labour...
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