By Chelsea Laskowski

Vice-principal talks cell privacy at lawsuit trial

Oct 9, 2014 | 6:53 AM

The public is now hearing from a man named in a lawsuit which raised the issue of cellphone privacy when it was launched over three years ago.

The lawsuit is based around an incident in March 2010 at Riverside Community School. A Grade 6 student was caught with his cellphone and it was confiscated by his teacher Monica Jones.

Jones spoke at the trial, which names Dwayne Tournier, Riverside’s vice-principal at the time, and the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division as the defendants.

His guardians, who are also his grandparents, are suing for $1,424 for travel costs and $50,000 for punitive damages.

Jones told the court the 12-year-old boy was a disruptive and sometimes aggressive student who frequently missed school.

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On March 10, 2010, Jones noticed the boy hunched over his desk and she could see he was texting. From her desk she said “please bring your cellphone” but the boy turned away instead and his texting became quicker, Jones testified.

She then stood up, and he handed her the phone with a little smile, Jones described as the resigned look of someone who’s been caught.

The phone was passed onto the vice-principal, Tournier.

Tournier testified he called the boy to his office and asked why he was being defiant to Jones. When the boy didn’t have a particular answer, Tournier said “I am going to go through your texts to see what’s on there.”

There was no password to get into the phone.

Tournier told the court he did this because he was concerned about student safety, with his mind going to the extreme scenario of a bomb or a planned fight. The boy had been suspended twice for fighting that school year.

What he saw instead was a text message from “Lloyd” saying “we stole a car.”

The boy refused to give further information on the sender or the incident, and Tournier went to see principal John Schultz.

Schultz testified he asked Tournier to contact police. When asked if staff would read a student’s texts on a confiscated phone, Schultz said it would happen dependent on the situation.

He gave an example of two kids leaving a bathroom, giggling and looking at a phone. When they were caught the staff member saw an inappropriate photo of a student in a bathroom stall. In Schultz’s opinion, he testified, Tournier did not act out of his scope as vice-principal.

Tournier called police in case the boy had information to share about a theft with them. The constable agreed the boy likely wasn’t involved in the theft.

The statement of claim by the plaintiffs says while in the school the constable asked the boy to send a “text to ‘Lloyd’ as to the location of the stolen vehicle.”

The constable and the boy went to that place after receiving a reply and were back at school within 15 minutes.

This information “surprised” Tournier.

In her testimony, Jones was asked how she deals with paper notes when they’re being passed around. She said sometimes she’ll throw it in the garbage or put it in her pocket, but if the student is acting “fishy” she’ll read it.

All witnesses have spoken at the lawsuit’s trial, and counsel for the defendants and plaintiff will give their closing arguments on Thursday.

The Court of Queen’s Bench justice will likely not render his decision that same day.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk