22 Royal York Employees Fired Over Alleged Theft, Drug Use

The Fairmont Royal York isn’t just Toronto’s classiest hotel. It’s a temporary abode for visiting kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers – not to mention diplomats, movie stars and music legends from around the world.

When the RCMP needs to lodge a “protected person” in the city for a night, the Royal York is often the place they choose. Winston Churchill, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ted Kennedy and Henry Kissinger – all have walked its halls, dined in its ballrooms or slept in its guest chambers.

With so many high profile patrons – and the hotel about to house some of them for the G20 Summit in June – security at the hotel is every bit as important as the housekeeping.

But a recent case of internal housekeeping had more to do with the hotel’s security than its laundry. Earlier this month the Royal York hired a private investigator to monitor the movements of some of its staff and then fired 22 employees.

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More Employers Tech To Track Workers

Almost every worker has done it: gotten in a little Facebook updating, personal e-mailing,YouTube watching and friend calling while on the clock.

Such indiscretions often went undetected by company management everywhere but the most secure and highly proprietary companies or governmental agencies. Not anymore.

Firms have become sharp-eyed, keenly eared watchdogs as they try to squeeze every penny's worth of their employees' salaries and to ensure they have the most professional and lawsuit-proof workplaces.

Managers use technological advances to capture workers' computer keystrokes, monitor the websites they frequent, even track their whereabouts through GPS-enabled cellphones. Some companies have gone as far as using webcams and minuscule video cameras to secretly record employees' movements.

"There are two trends driving the increase in monitoring," says Lewis Maltby, author of the workplace rights book Can They Do That? "One is financial pressure. Everyone is trying to get leaner and meaner, and monitoring is one way to do it. The other reason is that it's easier than ever. It used to be difficult and expensive to monitor employees, and now, it's easy and cheap."

Employers no longer have to hire a pricey private investigator to install a complicated video system or computer-use tracking devices. Now, they can easily buy machine-monitoring software and tiny worker-tracking cameras at a local electronics store or through Internet retailers.

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Striking Steelworkers Being Watched by Private Investigator

They say you're not paranoid if they're really out to get you. Some Steelworkers proved it Wednesday.

As the crowd was dispersing after a rally with Jack Layton at the Steelworkers' Hall on Brady Street, strikers spied a security guard filming as they were leaving.

The man was seated in his vehicle, parked along the side of the entrance to Kelly Lake Building Supplies, located behind the new Steel Hall.

He admitted to being a private investigator hired by a firm by the name of SCM in Toronto to "observe" the activities of Steelworkers in the parking lot of their union hall.

Clearly nervous at being questioned by several Steelworkers, the man replied, "Nice," when a Sudbury Star reporter identified herself and asked him who he was.

When asked what he was hired to do, he replied: "Just security, ma'am. Observation," he said, pointing to his sunglasses.

When asked who hired him, the man said: "I don't know. I told you what I know, ma'am. I don't want to tell you anything else."

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Records: Sanders, Foley involved in probes of board members, employees

Records obtained yesterday by The Blade from the state auditor's office show that at least one of the investigations ordered by Toledo Public Schools of three former school board members began with a tip from former TPS Superintendent Eugene Sanders.

And the documents reveal that the district made repeated use of a private investigator to check on suspicions about its employees.

In addition, a check paid to the investigative firm for the investigation of two private citizens who were often critical of the school district was signed in 2006 by the current superintendent, John Foley.

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Cleveland school board member apologizes for surveillance of district employees

Cleveland school board Vice Chairwoman Louise Dempsey apologized Friday to the community, saying she's sorry that the district hired private investigators to keep tabs on employees.

"What happened was unconscionable. The board does not condone this practice at all," Dempsey said. "We will never condone this behavior."

She said she was stunned to learn from a recent state audit that former Chief Operating Officer Daniel Burns had approved paying private investigators tens of thousands of dollars to keep several employees, including high-ranking administrators, under surveillance. Records indicate that the investigators were determining what the district employees did during the work day.

Dempsey's remarks came during a board retreat at the Quail Hollow Resort in Concord Township. The board is meeting there through today to discuss a new school transformation plan and other issues.

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