Contents

1. Summary
   1. Facts
   2. Holding
2. Comment
3. Further resources
4. The Decision

Summary

A former employee attempted to perpetrate fraud, which was discovered when his former employer who released his employment records to his new employer on the basis of his informed consent and in the the public interest. His case was dismissed for lacking in merit.

Facts

Stephen Chibweche (the “Complainant”) left the employment of the Aga Khan Service amicably and started a new engagement with a new school, Premier School. Premier School requested the Respondent to issue it with certain information as part of a onboarding (reference checking) process including the details of a payslip submitted to it by the Complainant.

The Respondent reviewed the payslip submitted to Premier School by the Complainant and established that it was a forgery as it differed in material respects to the one it has issued.

This information was shared with Premier School by the Respondent’s HR Officer who also submitted to them the correct payslip. The Respondent averred that his information should not have been processed in this manner by the Respondent without first obtaining his consent. The Respondent provided evidence of consent forms signed by the Complainant on its privacy policy and training returns which preceded the issuance of the consent.

Holding

The ODPC held that:

• The Respondent has proved that consent was obtained prior to processing the Complainant's data which was preceded by a knowledge session intended to facilitate informed consent.
• The Complainants information was processed by an institution dealing with minors/children and public interest as a lawful basis therefore applies.
• The Complaint lacked merit and was dismissed.

Comment

The full text of the ruling is available below.