Rob Shaw and Lindsay Kines report:
The B.C. government has fired a second employee in connection with a security breach in which the files of 1,400 income assistance clients turned up in a government worker’s home.
Citizens’ Services Minister Ben Stewart confirmed today that the second employee was “involved with” the Public Service Agency within his ministry.
He declined to provide the reasons for the firing, but said it stemmed from the ongoing probe of the security breach. “Because it’s a personnel issue, I can’t tell you anything more,” he said.
Government earlier suspended then fired the employee in whose home the documents were found.
Read more in the Vancouver Sun.
In a related story, the same reporters write:
A B.C. government employee remained on the job for seven months after police searched his Victoria home and discovered the personal information of 1,400 income-assistance clients.
But government ministers yesterday were unable to say what the employee’s responsibilities were or what kind of access he continued to have to sensitive information.
The employee was suspended last month when Citizens’ Services Minister Ben Stewart said he first learned of the privacy breach. A short time later, the employee was fired from his job in the Ministry of Children and Family Development.