Colin Baxter

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

The allegations were based on three unsatisfactory Teacher Performance Appraisals.

Since the filing of the allegations, the member completed a course and received a satisfactory appraisal.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion on consent, finding the withdrawal reasonable and in the public interest.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct after failing to prevent a classroom door from closing on a student's fingers and inappropriately taking another student by the hand.

The Member entered a plea of no contest and admitted to failing to maintain the standards of the profession and engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.

The Discipline Committee accepted the joint submission on penalty, ordering a verbal reprimand, the completion of an Additional Basic Qualification Course in Special Education, and publication of the decision without the Member's name.

The plaintiffs sued the defendants for defamation based on two letters.

Upon discovering the letters had not been published, the plaintiffs brought a motion to dismiss their own action and sought costs against the defendants.

The motion judge treated the motion as a discontinuance and awarded costs to the defendants under Rule 23.05.

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision, confirming that a plaintiff cannot move to dismiss its own action to avoid the presumptive costs consequences of discontinuance.

The Discipline Committee held a penalty hearing after finding the Member guilty of professional misconduct for physically, verbally, psychologically, or emotionally abusing four students.

The College sought a six-month suspension, reprimand, psychiatric report, publication, and travel costs.

The Member argued for a lesser penalty, citing a psychiatric report indicating minimal risk of re-offending.

The Committee ordered a six-month suspension, a reprimand, ethics training, and publication of the Member's name with a summary of the decision.

The Committee declined to order the Member to pay travel costs or submit a further psychiatric report.

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

The allegations were based on two unsatisfactory performance appraisals conducted by the same person within a short period, which were vague and subjective.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion on consent, finding that it would be difficult to prove incompetence on this basis and that withdrawal served the public interest.

The member, a teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for fastening a student to a chair with masking tape as a joke and calling him 'pig-headed'.

The Discipline Committee accepted the guilty plea, finding that her actions failed to maintain the standards of the profession and were disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional.

The Committee ordered the member to appear in person for a verbal reprimand, complete a specified course on respecting boundaries, and directed that a summary of the decision be published without identifying the member.

The Ontario College of Teachers appealed a committee decision ordering the reinstatement of a teacher who had resigned after a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student.

The College sought to introduce fresh evidence regarding the qualifications of the teacher's social worker and argued the committee's decision was unreasonable and lacked sufficient reasons.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding the fresh evidence did not meet the Palmer test, the committee's decision was reasonable based on the evidence, and the reasons provided were adequate.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a teacher for allegedly using inappropriate physical force and restraint on several students in a special education class.

The teacher argued that the students were aggressive and that he used approved restraint techniques to ensure safety.

The Discipline Committee heard expert testimony on the appropriate use of physical restraint, establishing that it must only be used as a last resort when there is an imminent risk of injury.

The Committee found that in multiple incidents, the teacher used physical force and restraint when there was no imminent danger and without attempting other intervention methods.

The Committee concluded that the teacher's actions constituted professional misconduct, including abusing students, failing to maintain professional standards, and engaging in disgraceful and unprofessional conduct.

The member pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for making inappropriate comments and engaging in boundary violations with female students.

The conduct included sending an e-mail stating certain students received privileges because they were pretty, writing a limerick about a student, and making inappropriate jokes.

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

The member was reprimanded, ordered to complete a course on respecting boundaries, and a summary of the decision was ordered to be published.

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

Upon the consent of the parties, the Discipline Committee authorized the withdrawal, concluding that it was reasonable and served the public interest.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member who repeatedly fell asleep during physical education classes, leaving students unsupervised, and attended a meeting with a principal and parent smelling of alcohol.

The member pled guilty to professional misconduct, including failing to maintain professional standards, failing to supervise adequately, and engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.

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

The member was ordered to receive a verbal reprimand, complete mandatory coursework on school supervision and instructional management, and face a conditional three-month suspension if the coursework was not completed.

The Committee ordered publication of the decision without the member's name.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought allegations of professional misconduct against the respondent member for inappropriate physical contact with students, including kicking a student's backpack, kicking a desk leg, and slamming his hands on a desk.

The member pleaded guilty to failing to maintain the standards of the profession and engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.

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

The Committee ordered a verbal reprimand, completion of a course on respecting boundaries, and publication of the decision.

The Member pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for grasping a student by the arm, lifting him from his chair, and taking him to the corner of the classroom.

The Discipline Committee accepted the Memorandum of Agreement and found the Member guilty of failing to maintain the standards of the profession and engaging in conduct unbecoming a member.

The Committee ordered a written reprimand and a notation on the public Register, but declined to order publication in the College's official magazine, noting the incident was isolated and did not involve physical assault.

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

The member did not attend the hearing.

Upon the consent of the parties, the Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding that the withdrawal of the allegations was reasonable and served the public interest.

The member, a secondary school teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for failing to maintain professional boundaries with a student who was not in his class.

The member engaged in personal telephone conversations with the student, met her after school hours, and gave her rides in his car.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a one-month suspension (deferred and cancelled upon successful completion of a boundaries course), and publication of the decision.

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

Upon consent of the parties, the Discipline Committee granted the motion and authorized the withdrawal of the Notice of Hearing, finding it reasonable and in the public interest.

The applicant sought judicial review of a ruling by the Commissioner of the Cornwall Public Inquiry denying a publication ban on the identity of one of its employees.

The Divisional Court determined the appropriate standard of review was reasonableness simpliciter.

The court found the Commissioner did not err in concluding the employee's identity was relevant to the inquiry's mandate, nor did he act unreasonably in applying the Dagenais/Mentuck test to deny the publication ban.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.

The appellant employer appealed a wrongful dismissal judgment awarding a twenty-seven month notice period.

The Court of Appeal held that, although the notice period was at the extreme upper limit of what was appropriate, it was still supportable on the facts and did not justify appellate intervention.

The court also upheld the trial judge's finding that the respondent employee made reasonable efforts to mitigate his damages.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.