Mary Ellen Gucciardi

The Member, a teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for engaging in an inappropriate personal relationship with a vulnerable student.

Over a two-month period, the Member exchanged 213 emails with the student containing highly personal and emotionally intense comments.

The Discipline Committee accepted the Agreed Statement of Facts and found the Member guilty of failing to maintain professional standards, psychological or emotional abuse, and disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a six-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the successful completion of a course on professional boundaries.

The Member faced allegations of professional misconduct for inappropriate behaviour towards two female students, including standing too close, staring at a student's chest, and touching a student's breast.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

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

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand and noting the Member's undertaking to resign, never seek reinstatement, and never teach again in Ontario.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member for professional misconduct and incompetence related to his teaching of a special education class.

The member admitted to failing to provide adequate programming, failing to keep accurate records, demonstrating preferential treatment, and allowing a student to watch an inappropriate adult cartoon.

The Discipline Committee accepted an agreed statement of facts and joint submission on penalty, finding the member guilty of professional misconduct and incompetence.

The member was ordered to receive a reprimand, serve a two-month suspension, and complete an additional qualification course in special education.

The Member, a teacher facing allegations of professional misconduct including sexual abuse of a student, brought a motion for the production of third-party records.

The Member sought the production of a children's aid society investigation file, student records (including an IEP and support records), attendance records, and the contact information of two student witnesses.

The Discipline Committee applied the O'Connor test for third-party production.

The Committee ordered the production of the children's aid society investigation file and the attendance records, finding they met the likely relevance threshold.

However, the Committee denied the production of the IEP and student support records, finding them to be privileged under section 266(2) of the Education Act.

The Committee also ordered the College to disclose the contact information of the student witnesses to the Member's counsel.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member alleging professional misconduct arising from off-duty conduct.

The allegations centered on a years-long feud with a neighbour at a local dog park, which included verbal altercations, swearing, and a minor physical shove when the neighbour grabbed the member's dog.

The Discipline Committee dismissed the allegations, finding that while the member's behaviour was unsavoury, rude, and demonstrated poor management of his dog, it constituted a private dispute that did not engage the broader public interest or undermine the reputation of the teaching profession.

The member was found not guilty of professional misconduct.

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

The Member admitted to failing to familiarize himself with a student's Individual Education Plan (IEP) and acting discourteously toward a parent and principal.

The Member also admitted to making unwelcome physical contact and inappropriate comments toward a student teacher under his supervision.

The Discipline Committee accepted the Member's guilty plea and the joint submission on penalty.

The Member was found guilty of professional misconduct and ordered to receive a reprimand, serve a three-month suspension, and complete coursework on professional boundaries, anger management, and ethical responsibilities.

The member brought a motion at the outset of a discipline hearing to limit the scope of the allegations to those specifically particularized in the Notice of Hearing.

The College sought to rely on additional, more serious allegations of sexual misconduct that were not enumerated in the Notice of Hearing but were disclosed in the underlying investigation report, arguing that the phrase 'including but not limited to' permitted their inclusion.

The Discipline Committee granted the member's motion, finding that the member was denied procedural fairness because he was not given adequate notice or an opportunity to respond to the unenumerated allegations during the investigation stage.

The Committee held that the lack of notice at the investigation stage could not be cured by providing particulars at the discipline stage, and prohibited the College from relying on any allegations not specified in the Notice of Hearing.

In a professional discipline proceeding against a teacher, the member brought a motion for the production of third-party records from a children's aid society and a school board.

The Discipline Committee panel ordered the children's aid society to produce its investigation file to the panel.

The panel also ordered the school board to produce the students' attendance records, but denied the request for the contents of their Ontario Student Records.

The College was ordered to disclose the students' contact information to the member's counsel on the condition that it not be shared with the member.

The member, a teacher, pleaded no contest to allegations of professional misconduct arising from her participation in a false invoicing scheme to defraud her husband's employer of over $864,000 USD.

The member and her husband were previously found liable for civil fraud.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, characterizing her actions as disgraceful, dishonourable, unprofessional, and unbecoming a member.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered that the member be reprimanded and her Certificate of Qualification and Registration be suspended for eight months.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought discipline proceedings against a member for professional misconduct involving a pattern of inappropriate comments and behaviour towards students and colleagues.

The member pled guilty to the allegations, admitting to psychological abuse of students, failing to maintain professional boundaries, and sexually harassing female colleagues.

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

The member was ordered to receive a reprimand, serve a 20-month suspension, and complete a course on maintaining appropriate boundaries.

The Member, a teacher, faced a discipline hearing after lifting a student off the ground out of frustration when the student failed to follow directions.

The Member had previously been found guilty of criminal assault for the same incident and received an absolute discharge.

At the discipline hearing, the Member pleaded no contest to allegations of professional misconduct, including physical abuse of a student and failing to maintain the standards of the profession.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand and noting that the Member had already voluntarily completed remedial coursework in classroom management and boundaries.

The member, a teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct after she asked teenage students to use their personal social media accounts to contact her ex-partner and pose as adults.

She also used vulgar and inappropriate language with the students.

The Discipline Committee accepted the guilty plea and the joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand and requiring the member to complete a course on professional boundaries.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for using inappropriate language, swearing, yelling at students, and disciplining students by making them do push-ups.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including verbal and psychological abuse, failing to maintain professional standards, and disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand and imposed conditions on the Member's certificate requiring the completion of a course on respectful relationships and classroom management.

The Member, a teacher, faced a discipline hearing for repeatedly mismanaging and stealing funds collected from students for school activities, and for stealing money from a colleague's mailbox.

The Member ignored directives from the school principal to stop handling money.

The Member pled guilty to professional misconduct, including failing to maintain the standards of the profession and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a one-month suspension of the Member's teaching certificate, and the successful completion of an ethics course.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member for professional misconduct, alleging verbal and emotional abuse of students, including yelling and making inappropriate comments about the Children's Aid Society and corporal punishment.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, noting his behaviour seriously interfered with a student's emotional development and failed to maintain professional boundaries.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a two-month suspension to be served consecutively to a previous suspension, completion of an anger management course, and $2,000 in costs.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for claiming sick leave to attend a multi-level marketing conference in the Bahamas and for inappropriately accessing confidential information of students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) to distribute marketing materials for her husband's financial services business.

The Member pled guilty to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including failing to maintain professional standards, conflict of interest, and disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a one-month suspension of her teaching certificate, and the completion of a professional ethics course.

The Member, an occasional teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for making inappropriate and insensitive comments to students regarding their sexual orientation, ethnicities, and relationship status.

The Discipline Committee accepted the Agreed Statement of Facts and found the Member guilty of failing to maintain professional standards, verbal and psychological abuse, and disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand and requiring the Member to complete coursework on professional boundaries and cultural sensitivity.

The Member, a teacher, pled guilty to professional misconduct for verbally, physically, and emotionally abusing students, including those with special needs.

The Member yelled at students, grabbed a student by the arm, made inappropriate comments about his personal life, and ridiculed a student's speech.

The Discipline Committee accepted the joint submission on penalty, ordering a written reprimand, a three-month suspension, and the completion of a course on classroom management with an emphasis on special needs students.

The Member, a teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct after submitting 48 false health and drug benefit claims totalling over $42,000 to her employer's benefits provider.

She had previously pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of using a forged document and repaid the defrauded amount.

The Discipline Committee accepted an agreed statement of facts and a joint submission on penalty, finding the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a 12-month suspension of her teaching certificate, and a condition requiring the completion of an ethics course before returning to teaching.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against an occasional teacher for making inappropriate and belittling comments to students, refusing to allow an injured student to seek first aid, and leaving a classroom unsupervised.

The Member did not attend the hearing but sent numerous abusive emails to the College.

The Discipline Committee found the Member engaged in professional misconduct, including verbal and psychological abuse, failing to maintain professional standards, and failing to supervise.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a 14-week suspension, and completion of coursework on boundaries and classroom management.

The Committee also awarded $12,500 in costs against the Member due to his vexatious and harassing conduct during the proceedings.