A recently fired veteran of the public service says he's being used as a scapegoat to cover up a security error by managers in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Luc Pomerleau was fired last week from his job in the food-labelling section of the agency.

The agency said he was fired for forwarding a confidential memo to his union in May. But Pomerleau said Tuesday the memo wasn't properly labelled as confidential.

Pomerleau said he found the memo on a computer server that all employees at the agency have access to, and it contained information about a plan to transfer some of the agency's responsibilities for food labelling and inspections to the food industry.

Pomerleau, who's also a union steward, said he became concerned about the plan and forwarded it to his union for advice.

The agency investigated the leak of the document to the union and fired Pomerleau.

"When a public servant breaks the public's trust by contravening clear security policies, or breaks a law, there are serious consequences," said Jean-Pierre St-Amand, executive director of assets and security management for the agency.

Pomerleau's union said he's being used as a scapegoat by managers who are becoming increasingly paranoid about internal communications.

"The reason why everybody is so upset is because of the need for every institution, under the current regime, to have complete control over messaging," said Michèle Demers, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service (PIPS).

Demers said PIPS has launched three grievances, and will do everything it can to return Pomerleau to his job.