Christine L. Lonsdale

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a teacher for making inappropriate comments to students and exhibiting unprofessional behaviour, including yelling and banging on desks.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee qualified three school administrators as participant experts in classroom management.

The Committee found that the Member's conduct constituted professional misconduct, specifically failing to maintain the standards of the profession and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

However, the Committee found the conduct did not meet the threshold for verbal or psychological abuse.

The Member was ordered to receive a reprimand, serve a three-month suspension, complete coursework in anger management and professional boundaries, and pay $10,000 in costs due to his failure to participate in the proceedings.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for falsifying her attendance records by reporting two consecutive absence days as 'Family Care Days' in order to participate in the Boston Marathon.

The Member pled guilty to the allegations via an Agreed Statement of Facts.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct and accepted a Joint Submission on Penalty, ordering a reprimand, a three-month suspension of her Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and the successful completion of a professional ethics course.

The member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for making inappropriate remarks and behaving inappropriately towards three female colleagues over several school years.

The member pleaded no contest to the allegations and admitted the facts.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, including failing to maintain the standards of the profession and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a six-month suspension of the member's teaching certificate, and the successful completion of courses on professional ethics, maintaining appropriate boundaries, and effective interpersonal communication.

This endorsement from a case conference addresses scheduling issues in a complex action, particularly concerning examinations for discovery and contemplated motions.

Due to a change in counsel for the main defendant, CBC, discoveries were adjourned.

CBC's new counsel seeks further disclosure, which the plaintiffs state is largely held by a third-party contractor.

The court suggests scheduling a "double motion" for production if necessary.

Additionally, the court emphasizes the need for CBC to promptly decide and bring any contemplated anti-SLAPP motion under section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act, citing Court of Appeal guidance that such motions should be brought at an early stage.

The court defers rescheduling discoveries until these motions are resolved.

The applicant sought judicial review of three decisions by the Investigation Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers, which refused to refer his complaints against three school administrators to discipline.

The court ruled the applicant only had standing to raise issues of procedural fairness.

The applicant argued there was a reasonable apprehension of bias and that the Committee was improperly constituted.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding no denial of procedural fairness, no factual basis for bias, and that the Committee was properly constituted.

Costs of $3,500 were awarded to the respondent.

The applicant, a teacher, sought judicial review of a decision by the Investigation Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers to issue him a written caution.

The caution related to his communications with a school principal regarding his son's suspension.

The applicant argued he was acting as a parent, not a teacher, and alleged procedural unfairness and unreasonableness.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding no procedural unfairness and concluding that the Committee's decision to issue a caution fell within a range of reasonable outcomes.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member for alleged professional misconduct during the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 academic years.

The member was alleged to have used inappropriate language, jumped on desks, slammed a metre stick, humped a wall, and called a student an 'idiot' and a 'douche'.

The Discipline Committee found that the member engaged in professional misconduct by failing to maintain the standards of the profession, failing to comply with the Education Act, and committing acts that would reasonably be regarded as disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional.

The Committee did not find that the member's conduct amounted to verbal, psychological, or emotional abuse.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, the completion of coursework on classroom management, and costs of $7,500 against the member, but declined to order a suspension.

This endorsement concerns the costs of a motion where the Plaintiff, The Ontario College of Teachers, was entirely successful.

The Defendant, Ahmed Bouragba, who was self-represented, made no relevant submissions regarding costs.

The court reviewed the Plaintiff's detailed submissions, found them reasonable, and awarded costs of $10,000 to the Plaintiff, to be paid by the Defendant.

The Member pleaded guilty to professional misconduct after failing to adequately supervise students on a school trip.

The Member purchased alcohol for underage students, allowed them to drink in their hotel room, drank with them, and left them unsupervised on multiple occasions.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a two-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the completion of a course on ethical standards and maintaining appropriate boundaries.

The Member, a teacher, pled guilty to professional misconduct after a physical altercation with a student who attempted to leave the classroom without permission.

The Member blocked the door and held the student's arm, leading to a struggle where the student fell.

The Discipline Committee accepted the joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand and acknowledging that the Member had already completed remedial courses in classroom management and stress and anger management.

The Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers held a hearing regarding allegations of professional misconduct against the Member.

The Member was self-represented but did not attend the hearing.

The Committee found that the Member engaged in acts of professional misconduct contrary to subsections 1(5), 1(15), 1(18), and 1(19) of Ontario Regulation 437/97.

The Committee reserved its decision on penalty.

The Discipline Committee held a penalty hearing for a teacher found guilty of professional misconduct for shouting at students, making them cry, and failing to immediately report a student who ran away.

The College sought a reprimand, a 6-to-12-month suspension, and mandatory courses.

The member, who was self-represented and stated she had no intention of returning to teaching in Ontario, argued the allegations were a setup.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a 6-month suspension, and terms requiring the successful completion of anger management and classroom management courses before accepting any position requiring a teaching certificate.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for insubordinate and inappropriate communications with colleagues and supervisors, failing to cooperate with school administration, and demonstrating shortcomings in teaching practice.

The Member pleaded guilty to professional misconduct based on an Agreed Statement of Facts.

The Discipline Committee accepted a Joint Submission on Penalty, ordering a reprimand, a six-month suspension of his teaching certificate, and the completion of coursework on boundary issues and teaching methodology before returning to practice.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a teacher for allegedly calling a student by his last name, treating him differently, and commenting on his sexual orientation in front of other students.

The Discipline Committee found that while the teacher did call the student by his last name, there was insufficient evidence to prove she treated him differently based on her opinion of him.

However, the Committee found that the teacher did ask the student about his sexual orientation in front of his peers, which constituted verbal and psychological abuse.

The teacher was found guilty of professional misconduct for failing to maintain the standards of the profession, abusing a student, and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member for physically and sexually abusing a Grade 8 student.

The member had previously pled guilty to criminal assault for hugging and lifting the student.

The Discipline Committee found that the member also sexually abused the student by kissing her forehead and touching her breasts on two occasions.

The Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, including physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, and ordered the immediate revocation of his Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought professional misconduct allegations against a teacher for her conduct over three school years at three different schools.

The College alleged that the teacher shouted at students, intimidated them, made them cry, and failed to immediately report the absence of a student who ran away from school during a blizzard.

The Discipline Committee heard evidence from several students and school principals, who were qualified as participant experts in classroom management.

The Committee found that the teacher's conduct constituted verbal, psychological, and emotional abuse, and that she failed to maintain the standards of the profession.

The allegations of physical abuse were not proven.

The teacher was found guilty of professional misconduct, with the penalty to be determined at a later date.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a retired teacher for numerous incidents of professional misconduct over three school years.

The Member was alleged to have made inappropriate, racist, and sexual comments to students, used physical force, and verbally and psychologically abused students.

The Member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, noting his conduct was serious, repeated, and had a profound negative impact on students.

The Committee revoked the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, finding him intractable and incorrigible.

The Ontario College of Teachers held a discipline hearing regarding allegations of professional misconduct against the member.

The member did not attend the hearing despite being properly served with the Notice of Hearing and disclosure documents.

Proceeding in the member's absence, the Discipline Committee found that the facts supported a finding of professional misconduct under various subsections of Ontario Regulation 437/97.

The Committee reserved its decision on penalty, with written reasons to follow.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member for engaging in an inappropriate personal and sexual relationship with a student during the 1999-2000 school year.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct based on findings of fact from prior criminal proceedings.

The Committee ordered the revocation of the member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, noting that his certificate had already been revoked in a prior hearing for similar misconduct involving another student.

At the outset of a discipline hearing, the member's representative brought a motion to dismiss the proceedings for delay, arguing that seven years had passed since the alleged misconduct.

The Discipline Committee applied the Blencoe test and found no inordinate delay attributable solely to the College, nor any evidence of prejudice to the member.

The representative then requested an adjournment to call witnesses.

The Committee denied the adjournment, noting the request was untimely, the reasons were insufficient, and granting it would prejudice the College, which had witnesses ready to testify.