Renee A. Kopp

The member was found guilty of professional misconduct for frequently yelling at students, failing to manage his classroom, and making inappropriate comments.

He did not attend the penalty hearing.

The Discipline Committee ordered a reprimand, a four-month suspension of his Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and required him to complete a course on classroom management before returning to teaching.

The Committee also ordered the member to pay $5,000 in costs due to his lack of cooperation, which unnecessarily lengthened the proceedings.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion to withdraw allegations of professional misconduct against two members.

The allegations stemmed from the same incident.

The College sought the withdrawal because both members had entered into Undertakings, Agreements and Acknowledgments requiring them to complete a course on conducting investigations in school settings following allegations of harassment.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding that the withdrawal was reasonable, protected the public interest, and avoided lengthy and difficult contested hearings.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion to withdraw allegations of professional misconduct against two members, Lucien Chaput and Gilles Auger.

The members had each entered into an Undertaking, Agreement and Acknowledgment requiring them to complete a course on conducting investigations in school settings following allegations of harassment.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding that the withdrawal of the allegations was reasonable and protected the public interest given the members' voluntary undertakings.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought allegations of professional misconduct against a teacher for incidents occurring during the 2016-2017 academic year.

The allegations included failing to accommodate a student's Individual Education Plan, inadequately supervising students, making inappropriate and religiously-themed comments to students, and failing to assess student work or follow the approved curriculum.

The Discipline Committee found that the College proved the allegations on a balance of probabilities.

The Committee concluded that the teacher committed professional misconduct by failing to maintain the standards of the profession, verbally and psychologically abusing students, failing to supervise adequately, and engaging in disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The Ontario College of Teachers alleged that a supply teacher committed professional misconduct during two separate assignments.

The allegations included showing inappropriate music videos to students, making inappropriate and demeaning comments, sending students outside in the rain as punishment, failing to follow lesson plans, and failing to adequately supervise students.

The Discipline Committee found that the member's conduct constituted professional misconduct, including verbal abuse, failure to supervise, and disgraceful or dishonourable conduct.

The Committee accepted hearsay evidence from students and qualified a human resources manager as a participant expert.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member for professional misconduct relating to two incidents while acting as an occasional teacher.

The member was alleged to have shown inappropriate music videos to a Grade [XXX] class, made inappropriate comments to students, sent two students outside in the rain as a disciplinary measure, failed to follow a lesson plan, and failed to adequately supervise students.

The Discipline Committee found that the allegations were proven on a balance of probabilities.

The Committee concluded that the member's actions constituted professional misconduct, including verbal abuse, failure to supervise, and disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

A penalty hearing was to be scheduled at a later date.

At a discipline hearing regarding allegations of professional misconduct, the member presented a Statement of Uncontested Facts and Plea of No Contest.

During the panel's investigation of the plea, the member made representations that raised concerns about the validity of the plea and the agreement between the parties.

With the consent of the parties and on the advice of Independent Legal Counsel, the panel ordered an adjournment.

The matter will be heard by a newly constituted panel.

The Member, a Registered Practical Nurse, faced allegations of professional misconduct for accessing a patient's electronic medical records on 10 separate occasions without consent or any clinical purpose.

The Member admitted to the allegations through an Agreed Statement of Facts.

The Discipline Committee found that the Member's actions constituted professional misconduct, specifically contravening the standards of practice and engaging in dishonourable and unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a Joint Submission on Order, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a two-month suspension of the Member's certificate of registration, and imposed terms, conditions, and limitations including meetings with a Regulatory Expert and employer notification.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for repeatedly leaving students unsupervised, failing to ensure student safety, and engaging in verbally and physically aggressive behaviour towards a student.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

The parties presented a joint submission on penalty proposing the revocation of the Member's certificate of qualification and registration.

Although the Committee expressed concerns that the penalty was severe compared to prior case law, it concluded that the joint submission did not meet the high threshold for rejection established in Anthony-Cook.

The Committee accepted the joint submission and ordered the immediate revocation of the Member's certificate.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a teacher for multiple incidents of verbal abuse, falling asleep in class, and leaving students unsupervised.

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 certificate, and the completion of a course on classroom and anger management.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member for professional misconduct, alleging he maintained a sexual relationship with a student over several years.

The member pleaded no contest to the allegations, which included inappropriate electronic communications, mutual masturbation, and physical contact of a sexual nature.

The member had previously been convicted of sexual exploitation and sexual assault under the Criminal Code.

The Discipline Committee 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, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's teaching certificate and directed that he be reprimanded.

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

The member did not attend but was represented by counsel and entered a plea of no contest.

The panel found the member engaged in professional misconduct contrary to multiple subsections of Ontario Regulation 437/97.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the panel ordered the immediate revocation of the member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The member faced a discipline hearing before the Ontario College of Teachers for professional misconduct.

The member did not contest the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the member engaged in professional misconduct and accepted a joint submission on penalty.

The member was ordered to receive an oral reprimand, serve a three-month suspension of his Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and complete a pre-approved course on classroom management and anger management.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member who sexually harassed two colleagues by touching them inappropriately after consuming excessive alcohol at a professional conference.

The member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered an oral reprimand, a four-month suspension of the member's certificate, and the completion of a professional ethics course.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member who was convicted of trafficking marijuana to an undercover police officer.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, noting that he abused his position of trust and was motivated by greed.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a 24-month suspension of his teaching certificate, and the completion of a professional ethics course prior to returning to teaching.

The Discipline Committee held a penalty hearing after finding the member guilty of professional misconduct for failing to maintain appropriate boundaries with students.

The member did not attend the hearing.

The Committee ordered a three-month suspension of the member's teaching certificate, required him to complete a course on maintaining boundaries before accepting any teaching position, and ordered a verbal reprimand and publication of the decision.

In a medical negligence action arising from an infant’s diagnosis and treatment of meningococcal meningitis, the court was asked to determine whether correspondence between counsel created a binding settlement dismissing the claim against a hospital and several nurses without costs.

The plaintiffs argued the settlement was conditional on undertakings from co-defendants not to allege negligence against the hospital parties.

The court held that the October 12, 2012 letter was implicitly contingent on that condition precedent but found that the co-defendants’ later correspondence satisfied the required undertaking.

Accordingly, a binding settlement had been reached between the plaintiffs and the hospital defendants.

Because one plaintiff was a minor, the settlement remained subject to court approval under Rule 7.08 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The plaintiffs appealed a summary judgment dismissing their medical malpractice action against two paramedics and an ambulance service.

The motion judge had found that while the standard of care was a genuine issue for trial, causation was not, relying on the defendants' expert opinion that the patient's survival rate was only 2.4 percent.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding that the motion judge erred in relying on the defendants' expert opinion because it did not address the plaintiffs' theory of the case, which posited that the patient would have survived had she been transported to the hospital immediately while she still had a heartbeat.

The Court concluded that both standard of care and causation were genuine issues requiring a trial.

Following a jury verdict in a medical negligence action, the court had issued written reasons on costs addressing the plaintiffs’ bill of costs and disbursements.

After the release of those reasons, counsel for the plaintiffs sent correspondence directly to the court seeking a further attendance and advancing additional arguments concerning expert disbursements that had been disallowed for lack of supporting information.

The court held that the correspondence constituted improper ex parte communication and an attempt to re‑argue the costs decision after final reasons had been issued.

The judge emphasized that the burden lies on the party claiming disbursements to demonstrate that they are reasonable and necessary and criticized counsel’s failure to provide sufficient supporting detail in the original materials.

The court refused to consider the contents of the letter and reaffirmed that the earlier costs decision was final.

The self-represented appellant appealed the dismissal of his claim against the respondent hospital and the estate of a doctor.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the trial judge's conclusion that the appellant failed to establish a claim and failed to commence his action within the relevant limitation periods.