College of Nurses of Ontario v. Alistone Skepple, 2006 ONCNO 81757

DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE OF THE COLLEGE OF NURSES OF ONTARIO

PANEL: Deanne Barber, RPN Chairperson Anne McKenzie, RPN Member Bill Dowson Public Member Grace Isgro-Topping Public Member

BETWEEN:

MARIE HENEIN for College of Nurses of Ontario

• and - NO REPRESENTATION for ALISTONE SKEPPLE

Registration No. 9105362 Heard: June 12, 2006

DECISION AND REASONS

This matter came on for hearing before a panel of the Discipline Committee on June 12, 2006 at the College of Nurses of Ontario (the “College”) at Toronto.

The Allegations

The allegations against Alistone Skepple (the “Member”) as stated in the Notice of Hearing dated May 15, 2006, are as follows:

1. You have committed an act or acts of professional misconduct as provided by subsection 51(1)(c) of the Health Professions Procedural Code of the Nursing Act, 1991, c. 32, as amended, and defined in subsection 1(37) of the Ontario Regulation 799/93, in that between June 18, 2001 and March 31, 2005, while working as a Registered Nurse at [the Hospital], you engaged in conduct or performed an act, relevant to the practice of nursing that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional in that you accessed, and/or viewed, and/or downloaded and/or stored pornographic materials at the hospital and/or used a hospital computer to do so.

Member’s Plea

The Member admitted the allegation as set out in the Notice of Hearing. The panel conducted a plea inquiry and was satisfied that the Member’s admission was voluntary, informed and unequivocal.

Agreed Statement of Facts

Counsel for the College advised the panel that agreement had been reached on the facts and introduced an Agreed Statement of Facts (ASF) which provided as follows:

THE MEMBER

1. Alistone Skepple (the “Member”) graduated as an R.N. from [ ] in 1990 and has been registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario (the “College”) since 1991.

2. From June 18, 2001 until March 3, 2005, the Member was employed at [the Hospital]. As a result of the incidents described below, he was terminated from his employment on March 3, 2005.

3. The Member does not have a prior disciplinary history with the College.

THE ALLEGATIONS

4. On March 29, 2005, the College received a complaint and report of termination in respect of the Member. The complaint related to the discovery that the Member was accessing, viewing, downloading and storing pornographic materials on hospital computers.

5. The allegations came to light as a result of complaints made by co-workers. [Co-worker A] was advised by [co-worker B] that while using a laptop computer that the hospital owns and loans out to staff, she discovered pornographic materials on the hard drive. Due to the fact that the computer had been loaned out only to two people, one of whom was the Member, it was not possible to determine with absolutely certainty who was responsible for placing pornographic images on the computer. Accordingly, the Hospital could take no action in response to this initial complaint.

6. A few weeks later, [co-worker C] was in the storage area at the hospital searching for a box of material belonging to her. She accidentally knocked down a box which belonged to the Member and was identified with the name “Alistone”. The box contained various pornographic materials. This discovery was reported to [co-worker A] and an internal investigation into the Member was commenced.

7. As a result of this information, the hospital conducted an internal investigation and examined 44 compact discs, twenty 3.5 inch floppy diskettes, two zip discs, one flash drive, and one desktop computer. Substantial amounts of pornography were located on the hard drive of the Member’s computer and a flash key that was in the back of another nurse’s computer as well as on the discs. The material stored on the Member’s hard drive was stored under the Member’s profile which is user defined and password protected.

8. As a result of the internal review, the Member was terminated from his employment. Upon his termination, the Member’s desk was cleaned out and more adult pornographic materials were discovered.

9. Both upon being interviewed by the Hospital and upon termination, the Member falsely denied any knowledge or ownership of the pornographic materials.

10. The Member admits that he viewed, accessed and saved adult pornography at the workplace. The images, however, did not contain any child pornography.

ADMISSIONS

11. The Member admits that he committed an act or acts of professional misconduct in that between June 18, 2001 and March 31, 2005, while working as a Registered Nurse at [the Hospital], he engaged in conduct or performed an act, relevant to the practice of nursing that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional in that he accessed, and/or viewed, and/or downloaded and/or stored pornographic materials at the hospital and/or used a hospital computer to do so.

Decision

The panel considered the Agreed Statement of Facts and finds that the facts support a finding of professional misconduct and, in particular, finds that the Member committed an act of professional misconduct as alleged of the Notice of Hearing in that between June 18, 2001 and March 31, 2005, while working as a Registered Nurse at [the Hospital], he engaged in conduct or performed an act, relevant to the practice of nursing that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as dishonourable and unprofessional in that he accessed, and/or viewed, and/or downloaded and/or stored pornographic materials at the hospital and/or used a hospital computer to do so.

Penalty

Counsel for the College advised the panel that there was not a joint submission on penalty. The prosecutor proceeded to present a written submission on penalty, inviting the panel to make a penalty order containing the following components:

1. Requiring the Member to appear before the panel to be reprimanded;

2. Directing the Executive Director to suspend the Member’s certificate of registration for 30 days, to commence on the date that this Order becomes final;

3. Directing the Executive Director to impose the following terms, conditions and limitations on the Member’s certificate of registration:

a) The Member must notify the Director of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all facilities or agencies at which he is directly employed to practice nursing, within 14 days of resuming practice, until the Member has completed 12 months of nursing practice following the date of this Order. Such notification must be in writing and sent by verifiable form of delivery (such as courier), and the Member must retain proof of delivery.

b) Until the Member has completed 12 months of nursing practice following the date of this Order, the Member shall only practice nursing for an employer(s) who has acknowledged to the Director in writing that it has received a copy of the Discipline Committee’s penalty order with its appendices, including the Notice of Hearing, Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Penalty or, if available, the Discipline Committee’s Decision and Reasons. The employer(s) must acknowledge receipt of the above within 14 days of the commencement of practice and must agree to notify the Director immediately upon receipt of any reasonable information that the Member is making inappropriate comments to colleagues or clients.

Counsel for the College presented the following factors in support of the proposed penalty:

Mitigating Circumstances

• No prior discipline history.

• Member currently dealing with issues in therapy.

• Serious consequences as a result of his actions in that his employment was terminated.

Aggravating Circumstances

• Not an isolated incident – conduct occurred over several years.

• Accessing, downloading and saving a substantial amount of graphic pornography at the workplace using employer’s computers.

• Position [at the] hospital brings a greater responsibility to the profession and to the public.

• When confronted, the Member demonstrated unprofessional conduct by denying the allegations. Integrity and honesty are an integral part of professional obligations.

College Counsel stated that the penalty provides for general deterrence to the membership and specific deterrence to the Member. This is not acceptable conduct, and a message must be sent to the profession that such conduct will not be tolerated.

College Counsel presented a similar case which supported the proposed penalty.

The Member presented the following submissions:

• The Member agrees with the facts presented by College Counsel.

• He advised the panel that he is still in therapy.

• He has suffered hardships which included loss of his employment.

• He requested that his name not be published in order to save grief to his family and co-workers.

In her reply submissions, College Counsel stated that the publication of a Member’s name is itself a significant deterrent, and that publication is consistent with the need to protect the public interest.

Penalty Decision

The panel deliberated and considered the submissions by both Counsel for the College and the Member. The panel accepted the penalty as submitted by College Counsel.

The panel therefore makes a penalty order containing the following components:

1. the Member shall appear before the panel to be reprimanded;

2. the Executive Director shall suspend the Member’s certificate of registration for 30 days, to commence on the date that this Order becomes final;

3. the Executive Director shall impose the following terms, conditions and limitations on the Member’s certificate of registration:

a) The Member must notify the Director of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all facilities or agencies at which he is directly employed to practice nursing, within 14 days of resuming practice, until the Member has completed 12 months of nursing practice following the date of this Order. Such notification must be in writing and sent by verifiable form of delivery (such as courier), and the Member must retain proof of delivery.

b) Until the Member has completed 12 months of nursing practice following the date of this Order, the Member shall only practice nursing for an employer(s) who has acknowledged to the Director in writing that it has received a copy of the Discipline Committee’s penalty order with its appendices, including the Notice of Hearing, Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Penalty or, if available, the Discipline Committee’s Decision and Reasons. The employer(s) must acknowledge receipt of the above within 14 days of the commencement of practice and must agree to notify the Director immediately upon receipt of any reasonable information that the Member is making inappropriate comments to colleagues or clients.

The panel concluded that it does not have the authority to prevent a member’s name from being published under subsection 56(2) of the Health Professions Procedural Code.

Reasons for Penalty Decision

The panel concluded that the proposed penalty is reasonable and in the public interest. The Member has co-operated with the College and, by agreeing to the facts, has accepted responsibility for his actions. The penalty provides for both specific and general deterrence. This will assure the public that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.

I, Deanne Barber, RPN, sign this decision and reasons for the decision as Chairperson of this Discipline panel and on behalf of the members of the Discipline panel as listed below:

Chairperson Date

Panel Members:

Anne McKenzie, RPN

Bill Dowson, Public Member

Grace Isgro-Topping, Public Member