Rachelle Coleman

The Member, a teacher facing allegations of professional misconduct including sexual abuse of two students, brought two pre-hearing motions before the Discipline Committee.

First, the Member sought to sever the allegations relating to Student 1 from those relating to Student 2, arguing that hearing them together would cause prejudice through propensity reasoning.

Second, the Member objected to the College's intention to hold the hearing electronically, arguing that an electronic hearing for key witnesses violated section 7 of the Charter and breached his right to procedural fairness.

The Discipline Committee dismissed both motions.

Applying the factors from R. v. Last, the Committee found that the public interest in avoiding a multiplicity of proceedings outweighed any potential prejudice, and that the panel's structure mitigated the risk of propensity reasoning.

Regarding the electronic hearing, the Committee held that section 7 of the Charter does not protect the pure economic interest of practicing a profession.

Furthermore, applying the Baker factors, the Committee concluded that electronic hearings do not inherently hinder credibility assessments or violate procedural fairness.

The College 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 Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member for professional misconduct, alleging verbal abuse and inappropriate classroom management.

The member pleaded no contest to an agreed statement of facts, admitting to calling a student a 'mad dog', slamming a door in a student's face, and leaving a student unsupervised in the hallway.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a one-month suspension, and mandatory coursework on classroom management, noting the member's prior disciplinary history for similar conduct.

The Member applied for reinstatement of his teaching certificate, which had been deemed revoked under section 30.3 of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 following a 2009 finding of professional misconduct involving the sexual abuse of a student.

The Member was permitted to apply for reinstatement because he had received a criminal pardon for his related conviction.

Applying the Lamarche factors, the Discipline Committee denied the application, finding that the Member lacked sufficient insight into his misconduct, had not undertaken adequate psychological counselling, and continued to view his relationship with the student as having developed naturally.

The Committee concluded that reinstatement would pose an unacceptable risk to students and negatively affect public trust in the profession.

The Registrar was directed to immediately revoke the Member's certificate.

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 a discipline proceeding against the Member for professional misconduct.

The Member was alleged to have verbally abused students by using profanity and making culturally insensitive comments, and to have failed to keep accurate records of student marks, which adversely affected at least one student's post-secondary applications.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the Member engaged in professional misconduct.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the completion of coursework.

The Member was also ordered to pay $10,000 in costs to the College.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member who pled guilty to three counts of extortion under the Criminal Code involving three former intimate partners.

The member admitted to harassing, threatening, and extorting the partners, including threatening to distribute intimate images and making unfounded complaints to a regulatory body.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, noting the conduct was disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a written reprimand and the immediate revocation of the member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The Member, a teacher, pled guilty to professional misconduct including the sexual abuse of three students.

The Member had engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with the students and was criminally convicted of luring a child to commit sexual exploitation.

The Discipline Committee accepted the Agreed Statement of Facts and found the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

Pursuant to the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act for sexual abuse, the Committee ordered that the Member be reprimanded and directed the Registrar to revoke her certificate of qualification and registration.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for verbally, physically, and psychologically abusing a student by grabbing her wrist and yelling at her during a class game.

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 one-month suspension of the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and the successful completion of a course on classroom management, anger management, and professional ethics.

The member, a teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct and sexual abuse of two students.

He had previously been convicted criminally of sexual assault and sexual exploitation in relation to the same students.

The Discipline Committee accepted the agreed statement of facts and joint submission on penalty.

Pursuant to the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's certificate of qualification and registration and issued a written reprimand.

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

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the member engaged in professional misconduct contrary to several subsections of Ontario Regulation 437/97.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension of the member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and imposed terms requiring the successful completion of coursework regarding student evaluation and applying ethical standards in a diverse classroom.

The member was also ordered to pay $10,000 in costs to the College.

Written reasons were to follow.

The Member, an occasional teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct including verbal and psychological abuse of students, inadequate supervision, and unprofessional interactions with colleagues and superiors.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations and agreed to a statement of uncontested facts.

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 teaching certificate, and the successful completion of coursework in professional ethics and classroom management.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of incompetence following three unsatisfactory performance appraisals under the New Teacher Induction Program.

The appraisals identified deficiencies in lesson planning, instructional strategies, student assessment, and classroom management.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member incompetent and accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering that terms, conditions, or limitations be placed on his Certificate of Qualification and Registration, including the completion of an Additional Qualification course and subsequent performance appraisals upon returning to teaching.

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.