The complainant, a senior planner, filed two complaints against his employer.
The first alleged that a finding of conflict of interest and subsequent reassignment constituted unjustified discipline and a breach of procedural fairness.
The second alleged that these actions were a reprisal for his 2010 disclosure of wrongdoing.
The employer brought a preliminary motion to dismiss the complaints as moot because the complainant had since left the public service.
The Board dismissed the mootness motion, finding a live controversy remained regarding the complainant's professional reputation.
On the merits, the Board found that the employer breached its duty of fairness by failing to give the complainant an opportunity to respond before making the conflict of interest finding and disciplinary transfer.
The Board concluded the complainant was not in a conflict of interest and did not engage in an improper outside undertaking, though he did breach a 2010 direction to seek guidance before speaking publicly.
The reprisal complaint was dismissed due to a lack of causal connection to the 2010 disclosure.
The Board ordered the removal of the conflict of interest finding and disciplinary transfer from the complainant's employment record.
