Ex Leaks Nude Pics, Tribunal Says It's In 'Public Interest', Denies Compensation

A civil tribunal in Canada has denied compensation to a woman whose nude pictures were shared by her ex-partner. The images, clicked in the workplace premises by the woman, were sent to the ex, who later forwarded them to their employer when the two broke up. The court ruled that the ex's actions were in "public interest".

The complainant referred to by the initials "MR", clicked the photos and videos during business hours with some of the media content filmed in publicly accessible areas like a front counter, according to a report in CTV News.

After the relationship broke down, the woman's ex-partner, referred to as "SS" in the court documents, sent the images to her employer, claiming that he was reporting her for "workplace misconduct". However, the complainant alleged that her ex was angry over their breakup and wanted to damage her reputation.

Civil Resolution Tribunal member Megan Stewart dismissed the claim, ruling the content shared with MR's employer didn't fully meet the criteria of "intimate" under the law.

"The evidence suggested at least some of the images were taken in parts of the office that were accessible to the public or other employees," said Ms Stewart in the judgment.

"A person who takes otherwise intimate recordings of themselves at work does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in those images to the extent they are shared with their employer for the purpose of investigating alleged misconduct, whatever the sharer's motives," it added.

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The Intimate Images Protection Act (IIPA) under which the woman was seeking compensation, states that someone can't be found liable for sharing such images if it "was in the public interest and did not extend beyond what was in the public interest."

"I find even on a strict interpretation of what is in 'the public interest,' these specific circumstances are captured," Ms Stewart added.

Though Ms Steward agreed with MR that she had a reasonable expectation from her ex-partner not to share the images she sent to him “with the public generally,” such as by publishing them on social media or an adult website. However, that expectation does not extend to the employer.

Even if the images had qualified as intimate under the act, Stewart found damages would not have been warranted in the case.