Professionally Speaking

Hearings

Three-member panels of the Discipline Committee conduct public hearings into cases of alleged incompetence or professional misconduct. The panels are a mix of elected and appointed Council members.

If found guilty of professional misconduct or incompetence, a member’s certificate may be revoked, suspended or limited. In cases of professional misconduct only, the committee may also reprimand, admonish or counsel the member, impose a fine, publish its order in Professionally Speaking or order the member to pay costs.

Panels of the Discipline Committee have ordered summaries of these recent disciplinary cases to be published in Professionally Speaking. Copies of full decisions are available through library@oct.ca.

Hearings regarding incapacity are closed.

Member: Paola Priscilla Queen
Registration number: 494912
Decision: Revocation

A Discipline Committee panel ordered the Registrar to revoke the certificate of Toronto DSB teacher Paola Priscilla Queen for engaging in an inappropriate consensual personal relationship with a student, including sex that resulted in the birth of a child.

Queen joined the teaching profession in June 2005. She attended the June 29, 2011 hearing along with legal counsel.

In 2005–06, Queen taught the student art, Spanish, food and nutrition, and parenting. The student was also a peer tutor in Queen’s parenting class and part of the school’s senior boys’ soccer team of which she was the coach. From March 2006 on, Queen had an inappropriate consensual personal relationship with the student, which included sexual intercourse. The relationship continued after the student left the school, and Queen gave birth to a child with the student in May 2007.

Queen was suspended by the board in March 2007 and resigned as a teacher in December of the same year. In December 2008 the College changed her status on its registry to Cancelled - Resigned.

Having considered the evidence, onus and standard of proof, and the submissions of counsel, the Discipline Committee panel found Queen guilty of professional misconduct and ordered the Registrar to revoke her Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The panel said that the fact that the relationship was consensual did not negate that the behavior constitutes professional misconduct and sexual abuse of a student.

“The committee finds that the member engaged in sexual abuse of a student, the most serious breach of professional misconduct,” the panel said. “The member abused the authority and trust vested in her without regard for the well-being of the student.

“The conduct of [Queen] was unacceptable, in conflict with the duty of a teacher and a breach of the public trust. Revocation is the appropriate penalty for misconduct of this severity.”

A notation regarding the revocation appears on the member’s certificate online at www.oct.ca ‘ Find a Teacher.

Member: Wayne Robert O’Neill
Registration No: 456967
Decision: Revoked

A Discipline Committee panel revoked the certificate of Rainbow DSB secondary school teacher Wayne Robert O’Neill for engaging in a sexual relationship with a senior female student.

O’Neill, who joined the teaching profession in June 2002, did not attend the July 18, 2011 hearing, nor was he represented.

During the 2009–10 school year, O’Neill had a sexual relationship with the Grade 12 student, which included spending time alone with her, displaying her photographs in his office and hugging, kissing and touching her.

In the early morning hours of February 11, 2010, police found O’Neill alone with the student in his vehicle. At a bail hearing the following day, he was instructed not to associate or communicate with the student or her family and to stay at least 500 metres away from the student or her family’s place of residence, school or employment. However, O’Neill exchanged several e-mails with the student in late March 2010. On March 10, 2010, the board terminated his employment.

O’Neill pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual exploitation and to breaching his bail terms and was sentenced to 14 days in jail and 24 months, probation.

Having considered the evidence, the Discipline Committee panel directed the Registrar to revoke O’Neill’s Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

“The conduct of the member was unacceptable and in conflict with the duty of a teacher to protect students,” the panel said. “The member, as a result of his conduct, has forfeited the privilege of holding a teaching certificate and being a member of the teaching profession.

“Publication serves the public interest by reassuring and informing the community that the profession acts decisively when matters of this nature are brought to its attention.”

A notation regarding the revocation appears on the member’s certificate online at www.oct.ca ‘ Find a Teacher.

Member: Silvio Joseph Tallevi
Registration number: 118404
Decision: Reprimand, conditions

A Discipline Committee panel reprimanded Toronto DSB vice-principal Silvio Joseph Tallevi for failing to immediately report details of a sexual assault involving a female student at school.

Tallevi, who joined the teaching profession in June 1975 and retired in June 2007, attended the November 2, 2010 hearing with legal counsel. The hearing continued on May 10, 2011.

The panel heard evidence that Tallevi had learned from a staff member of an incident in October 2006 in which a female student had been threatened, intimidated or coerced by one or more male students into performing oral sex on one or more male students in a school bathroom, while other students stood guard outside.

It wasn't until late in November 2006 that Tallevi says he advised the school principal. There is a factual dispute between Tallevi and the school principal as to the nature of the information he provided, with the school principal denying Tallevi advised of the bathroom assault.

Tallevi never discussed the assault with the girl's parents, the police, any social worker or the board's Safe and Caring Schools Department. Nor did he report to any board superintendent or employee.

In the two months following the incident, other students taunted, harassed and physically threatened the girl. She transferred to another school in December 2006.

A charge against the member for failing to report, contrary to the Child and Family Services Act, was quashed.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed an appeal by the Crown to proceed with the charges.

Having considered the evidence, the Discipline Committee panel found Tallevi guilty of professional misconduct and ordered him to face the panel and receive a reprimand. Further, the panel directed Tallevi to complete a course in professional ethics at his own expense before being allowed to teach again.

"There is nothing unique in this matter," the panel said. "In fact, its circumstances (that is, failing to make a proper report because doing so will create challenges for all those involved) will continue to occur unless members of this profession are made aware of the consequence to them and to our profession of failing to respect the duty to report fully and appropriately.

"All members should know about their school board's policy about their duty to report as it is required to do so. The member's failure to report as required by board policy had serious consequences. The student continued to be harassed. The member was not able to protect the student. It was essential to report the incident properly so that a more effective action might have been taken."

"More importantly, his failure to fully carry out his responsibilities had an impact on others," the panel said. "This was not just a personal failure that reflected only on the member, it was a failure that had consequences for a school community. The member did not meet the expectations of the public and the profession."

A notation regarding the reprimand appears on the member's certificate online at www.oct.ca Find a Teacher.