Élaine Legault

The Ontario College of Teachers brought allegations of professional misconduct against a teacher for incidents occurring during the 2016-2017 academic year.

The allegations included failing to accommodate a student's Individual Education Plan, inadequately supervising students, making inappropriate and religiously-themed comments to students, and failing to assess student work or follow the approved curriculum.

The Discipline Committee found that the College proved the allegations on a balance of probabilities.

The Committee concluded that the teacher committed professional misconduct by failing to maintain the standards of the profession, verbally and psychologically abusing students, failing to supervise adequately, and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against the Member for professional misconduct.

The Member pleaded no contest to allegations of engaging in intimidating, aggressive, and disrespectful behaviour towards his principal and several colleagues over a two-year period.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including failing to comply with the College's by-laws and the Education Act, and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a two-month suspension of the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and the successful completion of a course on conflict resolution and professional ethics before returning to teaching in Ontario.

The Member brought a second motion for an adjournment of his discipline hearing, citing medical issues and potential legal proceedings in Gabon.

The Discipline Committee first ruled that a document sent by a third party was protected by solicitor-client privilege and inadmissible.

Applying the factors under the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, the Committee denied the adjournment, finding the Member's last-minute medical evidence and lack of transparency unreliable, and noting the prejudice of further delay given the presence of witnesses ready to proceed.

The member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for verbally, physically, and psychologically abusing students, including an incident where she pulled a student's chair, causing the student to fall.

The member pleaded no contest to the allegations and entered into an undertaking to resign from the College and never seek reinstatement.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct and, accepting a joint submission on penalty, ordered that the member be reprimanded.

The Member, who was absent and unrepresented, requested an adjournment of his discipline hearing via email, citing medical issues and an alleged illegal detention in Gabon.

The College did not oppose an adjournment but requested specific conditions and an earlier date than the Member proposed.

The Discipline Committee granted the adjournment to October 7, 2022, finding that the Member's medical evidence warranted a delay.

The Committee imposed conditions requiring the Member to provide a detailed medical report 30 days prior to the new hearing date and written consent for the College to contact Global Affairs Canada regarding his alleged detention.

The member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for verbally and psychologically abusing students, failing to mark assignments, and making inappropriate comments about colleagues.

The member pleaded no contest to an agreed statement of facts detailing his use of profanity, physically intimidating behaviour, and failure to provide appropriate instruction.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension of the member's certificate, and the completion of coursework in classroom and anger management.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought discipline proceedings against a member for professional misconduct, including showing an R-rated movie with sexual content to Grade [XXX] students, making inappropriate comments to students who complained, sleeping in class, and accessing a dating website during class time.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct and sexual misconduct.

The member, who did not attend the hearing, was ordered to receive a reprimand, serve a six-month suspension, complete coursework on boundary violations, and pay $10,000 in costs.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against the member for professional misconduct.

The member admitted to failing to maintain professional standards, verbally and psychologically abusing students, and engaging in disgraceful and unprofessional conduct.

The uncontested facts showed the member ignored a school nut-free policy, exchanged inappropriate emails with former students criticizing current students, refused to help struggling students, mocked incorrect answers using a Staples 'Easy' button, and used a computer for personal entertainment during class time.

The Discipline Committee accepted the joint submission on penalty, finding the member guilty of professional misconduct.

The member was reprimanded, suspended for six months, and ordered to complete a course on classroom communication and professional boundaries.

The Member brought a motion to adjourn the discipline hearing for medical reasons.

The College consented to the adjournment but requested conditions for any future adjournment requests, including a requirement for an independent medical evaluation.

The Discipline Committee granted the adjournment and imposed conditions on future requests, noting the need to prevent undue delay and manage committee resources.

The Committee ordered that if the Member seeks a future adjournment for medical reasons and the College reasonably requests an independent medical evaluation, the Member may consent to it, with any refusal to be considered by a future panel.

At a discipline hearing regarding allegations of professional misconduct, the member presented a Statement of Uncontested Facts and Plea of No Contest.

During the panel's investigation of the plea, the member made representations that raised concerns about the validity of the plea and the agreement between the parties.

With the consent of the parties and on the advice of Independent Legal Counsel, the panel ordered an adjournment.

The matter will be heard by a newly constituted panel.

The Member, a teacher, engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student that began while the student was under 18 and continued after he turned 18.

The conduct included exchanging personal messages, hugging, flirting, and later engaging in physical intimacy of a sexual nature, providing alcohol, and sending manipulative messages.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including psychological or emotional abuse and sexual abuse.

Pursuant to the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the Member's teaching certificate and a reprimand.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion seeking leave to withdraw allegations of professional misconduct and/or incompetence against the member.

The College determined that proving incompetence would be difficult based on supplementary documentation and that the matter was better handled correctively.

The panel granted the motion, finding it in the public interest to withdraw the allegations in exchange for the member's Undertaking and Acknowledgement, which required her to complete additional coursework and undergo performance appraisals upon returning to teaching.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion to compel two police services to produce unredacted records relating to their investigations of incidents involving students at a school where the members were principal and vice-principal.

The members and the police services either consented or did not oppose the motion.

Applying the first stage of the O'Connor test, the Discipline Committee found the records were likely relevant and ordered the police services to produce them to the Panel for review, subject to certain redactions and Youth Criminal Justice Act provisions.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion to compel the production of third-party records from two police services regarding an incident involving students at a school where the members were principal and vice-principal.

The Discipline Committee applied the first stage of the O'Connor test and found that the records were likely relevant.

The Committee ordered the police services to produce the unredacted records to the Panel for review, after which the Panel will determine whether they should be produced to the parties.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct, including sexual abuse, relating to an ongoing inappropriate personal and romantic relationship with a student.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations and agreed to a statement of uncontested facts detailing grooming behaviour, inappropriate electronic communications, and meeting the student alone in his vehicle.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct and sexual abuse.

Pursuant to the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the Member's teaching certificate and a reprimand.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for verbally, physically, and emotionally abusing students.

The Member yelled at students, used inappropriate language, and used unnecessary physical force.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee accepted the uncontested facts and found the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the successful completion of an anger management course.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion seeking leave to withdraw the allegations against the member set out in a Notice of Hearing.

The member's case had already been dealt with by another committee of the College, and the member consented to the withdrawal.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding that the withdrawal was reasonable and served to protect the public interest.

The Member brought a motion to adjourn the scheduled discipline hearing dates for medical reasons.

The College did not oppose the motion but requested terms and conditions.

The Discipline Committee granted the adjournment to September 13, 2021, and imposed conditions on any future adjournment requests for medical reasons, including the requirement to submit to an independent medical evaluation if requested by the College.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member who had been criminally convicted of sexually assaulting two students and assaulting a female colleague.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the member committed professional misconduct, including sexual abuse of students, physical abuse, and psychological abuse.

The member's conduct violated multiple standards of the profession and the Education Act.

Pursuant to the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, which applied retrospectively, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's certificate of qualification and registration, and directed that the member receive a written reprimand.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against the member for alleged professional and sexual misconduct.

The member did not attend the electronic hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the member engaged in professional misconduct and sexual misconduct as defined in the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996.

The panel reserved its decision and reasons on penalty and costs, to be released with full written reasons for the finding.