Rebecca Durcan

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member who pled guilty to and was convicted of criminal sexual assault against a former student.

The member did not attend the hearing but submitted an Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea, admitting to engaging in an inappropriate personal and sexual relationship with the student.

The Discipline Committee accepted the guilty plea and found the member guilty of professional misconduct, including sexual abuse of a student.

Pursuant to the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, the Committee ordered that the member be reprimanded and directed the Registrar to immediately revoke her certificate of qualification and registration.

The Member, a school principal, pled guilty to professional misconduct for posting Islamophobic and xenophobic content on her personal Facebook page over a period of 18 months.

The College and the Member presented a joint submission on penalty proposing only a reprimand.

The Discipline Committee initially expressed deep concern that a reprimand alone would undermine public confidence and fail to address the heightened responsibilities of a principal to maintain an inclusive school culture.

However, applying the high threshold for rejecting joint submissions from Anthony-Cook, the Committee ultimately accepted the joint submission.

The Committee noted significant mitigating factors, including the Member's immediate remorse, voluntary completion of an extensive equity course, and the fact that she had been removed from her leadership position for over two years.

The Member, a teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct after being convicted criminally of possessing child pornography.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea, finding the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

Pursuant to a Joint Submission on Penalty and the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, the Committee ordered that the Member be reprimanded and directed the Registrar to immediately revoke his Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The Member, a teacher, faced disciplinary proceedings for using inappropriate language and making offensive comments to students.

The Member pleaded guilty to professional misconduct, including verbal and psychological abuse of students, failing to maintain professional standards, and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and a Joint Submission on Penalty.

The Member was reprimanded and ordered to complete courses in professional boundaries and anger management.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a retired teacher who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography under the Criminal Code.

The member did not attend the hearing but submitted an Agreed Statement of Facts and Guilty Plea.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct and, pursuant to mandatory penalty provisions for prohibited acts involving child pornography, ordered a reprimand and the immediate revocation of the member's certificate of qualification and registration.

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

The Member and the student exchanged thousands of text messages, spent time alone together, and the Member told the student she loved him.

The Member abruptly ended the relationship when her husband discovered the texts, causing the student significant emotional distress.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty and ordered the immediate revocation of the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers held a penalty hearing for a member previously found to have engaged in professional misconduct.

The member's conduct involved inappropriate and discriminatory treatment of a student based on sexual orientation, which led to the student being 'outed'.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a five-month suspension of the member's certificate, and the successful completion of coursework on classroom management and ethical practice before returning to teaching.

During a discipline hearing against a teacher, two of the three panel members became incapable of continuing.

The self-represented member brought a motion challenging the jurisdiction and propriety of the panel proceeding with only one member.

The remaining panel member held that while section 4.4(1) of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act confers jurisdiction to proceed with one member, it is a discretionary power.

Given the former Chair's assurances about the process, the fairness concerns of losing collective decision-making in a contested hearing with a self-represented litigant, and the relatively early stage of the hearing, the panel declined to exercise its discretion to proceed.

A new panel must be struck.

The College alleged that the Member committed professional misconduct after he was found guilty in criminal court of two counts of sexual assault against a patient.

The Member did not attend the discipline hearing.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member committed professional misconduct by being found guilty of an offence relevant to his suitability to practise and by sexually abusing a patient.

The Committee ordered that the Member be reprimanded, his certificate of registration be revoked, he reimburse the College for patient therapy funding up to $16,060, and he pay costs of $28,299.90.

The Member, a principal and sole director of a private school, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct.

He failed to refund tuition and tuck fees to a student's parent despite a settlement agreement, and misrepresented the school's financial situation.

He also continued to collect fees from other parents while knowing the school was in financial difficulty and likely to close, ultimately giving only one day's notice before ceasing operations.

The Discipline Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a written reprimand and a 22-month suspension of his Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The Member also resigned and undertook not to teach in Ontario.

The Member faced allegations of professional misconduct for issuing a false receipt for acupuncture services when the patient actually received massage therapy, and for failing to maintain a daily appointment log.

The Member admitted to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member committed professional misconduct and accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a six-month suspension (three months suspended upon completion of conditions), coursework, a practice assessment, and $2,500 in costs.

The member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for physically slapping a student and making numerous inappropriate, profane, and disparaging comments to students over two academic years.

The member pled guilty to the allegations and admitted the facts.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, including physical, verbal, and psychological abuse of students.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a two-month suspension of the member's certificate, and the completion of coursework on boundaries and anger management, noting the member's prior discipline history and mitigating factors including a medical leave of absence.

The Member pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for providing false receipts for acupuncture and massage therapy in exchange for $2,000 in cash.

The Discipline Committee accepted the agreed statement of facts and joint submission on penalty, imposing a reprimand, ethics course, reflection piece, practice assessment, and a six-month suspension (reducible to three months upon completion of terms).

The Member was also ordered to pay $2,500 in costs.

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 motion seeking leave to withdraw the allegations of professional misconduct set out in a Notice of Hearing against the member.

The member consented to the motion.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, noting that the member's case had previously been dealt with by another Committee of the College, making the withdrawal reasonable and in the public interest.

The Member, a retired teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for engaging in inappropriate physical contact with multiple female students while coaching a school team.

The Member admitted to the facts, including touching students' legs, shoulders, and faces, and pulling a student by her shirt.

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

Accepting a Joint Submission on Penalty, the Committee ordered a written reprimand, a three-month suspension of the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and the successful completion of a course on boundary violations should he return to teaching.

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

The member consented to the motion.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, noting that the member's case had previously been dealt with by another committee of the College, making the withdrawal reasonable and in the public interest.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against the Member following his criminal conviction for sexual interference involving a minor.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including sexual and psychological abuse of a student, failing to maintain professional standards, and engaging in disgraceful or dishonourable conduct.

The Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, noting the egregious nature of the misconduct and the need to protect the public interest.

The Member, a secondary school teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for repeatedly grabbing or attempting to grab the genitals of male colleagues while intoxicated at off-duty events, and engaging in a physical fight as a result.

The Discipline Committee accepted the joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand (delivered via video conference), a three-month suspension of his Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and the successful completion of a course on professional interactions and boundary violations prior to any return to teaching.

The Member pleaded guilty to professional misconduct, including the sexual abuse of a student.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty based on an Agreed Statement of Facts.

The Member had engaged in a sexual relationship with a student while acting as her teacher and coach, and was criminally convicted of sexual exploitation.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand and the immediate revocation of the Member's teaching certificate, which is the mandatory penalty for sexual abuse under the Ontario College of Teachers Act.