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. Members found guilty of incompetence or professional misconduct may have their certificate revoked, suspended or limited. In professional misconduct matters only, the committee may also reprimand, admonish or counsel the member, impose a fine, order the member to pay costs or publish the order in Professionally Speaking.
Discipline Committee panels have ordered that summaries of these recent disciplinary cases be published in Professionally Speaking. Copies of the full decisions are available at oct.ca → Members → Complaints and Discipline → Decisions.
Also available online are decisions and memorandums of agreement ratified by Investigation Committee panels that explicitly stipulate that documents will be made available through the College’s library or Quicklaw, a legal subscription service, or other means.
Hearings
Member: Nathalie Marie Denise Champagne
Member number: 495849
Decision: Revocation
A panel of the Discipline Committee has directed the Registrar to revoke the Certificate of Qualification and Registration of Nathalie Marie Denise Champagne, a secondary-school teacher with the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud, for having had sexual relations with a 16-year-old student.
Champagne became a member of the College in June 2005. She did not attend the hearing on June 20, 2012, nor was she represented by a lawyer.
Between 2007 and 2009, she engaged in telephone conversations and emails of an intimate and inappropriate nature with several students, and committed sexual acts with one of them by video conference, which was viewed by students of the school.
Having reviewed the evidence — and considering the plea of no contest — the agreement on the undisputed facts, the joint recommendation on the penalty and the representations by counsel, the panel agreed that Champagne is guilty of professional misconduct and has directed the Registrar to revoke the Certificate of Qualification and Registration.
“Ms. Champagne demonstrated conduct that is reprehensible and unbecoming of a member of the profession. She abused the authority and trust associated with her role as a teacher for purposes of her own sexual indulgence, without regard for the student’s well-being,” concluded the committee in its decision.
A notice regarding the revocation is included on Champagne’s certificate, which is accessible online at oct.ca → Members → Complaints and Discipline → Decisions.
Member: Not identified
Decision: Reprimand, conditions
A Discipline Committee panel reprimanded a Toronto DSB high school teacher for breaching appropriate teacher-student boundaries.
Certified to teach in July 2001, the member attended the August 8, 2012, hearing with legal counsel.
In 2010, the member grabbed a student’s hooded sweatshirt when he refused to properly dispose of a can in a recycling container. She then attempted to grab the cellphone of another student who threatened to film the incident. The teacher put her hand on the shoulder of the second student, who lost his balance and fell, and then closed and locked her classroom door to prevent students entering. When the first student tried to enter, she pushed him and swore at him to leave.
Subsequently, the school board suspended the teacher for 15 days.
Having considered the evidence, onus and standard of proof, and the submissions of legal counsel, the Discipline Committee panel found the member guilty of professional misconduct.
The member was ordered to face the panel after the hearing to receive a reprimand. As well, she was ordered to complete a course at her own expense regarding appropriate boundaries, boundary violation issues and anger management.
A notation about the disciplinary action appears online at oct.ca → Members → Complaints and Discipline → Decisions.
Member: Thomas Paul Karrow, OCT
Registration No.: 452996
Decision: Reprimand, conditions
A Discipline Committee panel reprimanded former Bluewater DSB principal Thomas Paul Karrow for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with an 11-year-old student.
Karrow, who was certified in August 2002, attended the May 23, 2012, hearing with legal counsel.
The panel heard evidence that between November 2009 and January 2010 Karrow loaned a school board computer to the student, engaged in ongoing electronic communication of a personal nature with her, invited the girl and her mother to stay overnight at his home, exchanged gifts and accepted money from the girl. Several times, he was alone in his office with the student for extended periods, took her to dinner alone to a restaurant with her mother’s permission, and sat alone with her in his car.
Karrow said that he was assisting the student related to bullying that she was experiencing, but acknowledged that his conduct violated professional boundaries. He resigned from the board in February 2010 and has not taught students or supervised teachers since. After resigning, he underwent counselling and completed a course in ethical practices and boundaries.
Having considered the evidence, onus and standard of proof, and the submissions of legal counsel, the Discipline Committee panel found Karrow guilty of professional misconduct.
He was ordered to face the panel to receive a reprimand. Prior to returning to work, he must provide the Registrar with a written certificate from a certified psychologist or psychiatrist stating that he is able to return to full-time classroom duty or professional duties as teacher or administrator without any undue risk of harm or injury to students.
A notation about the disciplinary action appears online at oct.ca → Members → Complaints and Discipline → Decisions.
Member: Deoraj Narine
Registration No.: 215785
Decision: Suspension, conditions
A Discipline Committee panel suspended the certificate of Toronto DSB high school science teacher Deoraj Narine for three months for making inappropriate comments to an 18-year-old pregnant student, for treating students disrespectfully and using classroom management strategies that raised safety concerns.
Narine, who was certified in June 1992, represented himself at the June 13 and 14, 2012, hearing.
The panel heard evidence of events at two separate schools involving Narine. In the first, an 18-year-old pregnant student reported to school administrators and police that in April 2008 Narine called her a “shithead,” complained that her baby would cost him money as a taxpayer and had she listened to him “would have had it taken out.” She also said he said, “I feel sorry for you anyways because it’s [the baby] going to grow up in a world of violence and shit.”
After being moved to another school, Narine had treated students disrespectfully, yelled and swore at them, told them to “shut up” and used ineffective classroom management strategies. Witnesses said that Narine did not apply appropriate protocols, engaged in verbal exchanges with students regularly, and that his classroom was “chaotic.” After an investigation, the school board formally reprimanded the teacher, suspended him for 10 days and informed the College. Narine denied all the allegations.
Having considered the evidence, onus and standard of proof, and the submissions of legal counsel and the member, the Discipline Committee panel found Narine guilty of professional misconduct.
The panel ordered the Registrar to suspend Narine’s certificate for three months and directed him to complete courses on classroom management and sensitivity training at his own expense within a year.
Information about the disciplinary action appears online at oct.ca → Members → Complaints and Discipline → Decisions.
Member: Anthony John Park
Registration No.: 265965
Decision: Suspension, reprimand, conditions
A Discipline Committee panel reprimanded Durham Catholic DSB teacher Anthony John Park and ordered that his certificate be suspended for three months for using sexualized language with his class and certain students.
Park, certified to teach in December 1995, attended the February 2, 2012, hearing with legal counsel.
In 2004, the school board disciplined Park for inappropriate interactions with two female students on a field trip. He received a disciplinary transfer to another school, underwent a psychiatric assessment and took a boundaries course.
Then in 2007–08, Park told a student, who was cold and asked to get a sweater, to “come over, I’ll warm you up.” He told a student he wished she were his daughter and that she could go home with him. He confiscated a Cosmopolitan magazine from another girl and, flipping though the pages, said to the class, “You could learn some things from the articles” and then read aloud a headline that said “Why do women want to have sex all the time?”
While writing on a blackboard, Park looked back to the class and said “Girls, stop looking at my butt.” And while describing organisms, cells, trees and plants during a lesson, Park said “A stem is long, sometimes it goes hard, sometimes it’s soft.”
In November 2008, the Durham Catholic board fired him.
Having considered the evidence, onus and standard of proof, and the submissions of legal counsel, the Discipline Committee panel found Park guilty of professional misconduct.
The panel ordered the Registrar to suspend Park’s Certificate of Qualification and Registration for three months. It ordered him to face the panel to be reprimanded and further ordered him to complete a course on boundaries and boundary violation issues at his own expense.
“The member has demonstrated a low level of awareness of boundaries and appropriate forms of address and communication with his students,” the panel said in its written decision. “He has done so repeatedly and over a number of years.
“The reprimand allows the profession to communicate with the member about his behaviour and transgressions and therefore serves a specific deterrent. The three-month suspension sends a very clear message to the member and the profession that this type of behaviour is viewed very seriously. A specific deterrent is also put into effect by the boundaries course and the three-month suspension. Publication with name makes it clear to the member that he failed in acting as a member of the profession and needs to reflect on his failure.”
The panel expressed concern that the member was a recidivist and that the proposed penalty might be ineffective. The proposed penalty mirrored the penalty the school board imposed on an earlier occasion for behaviour of the same type that had been demonstrated by the member. The panel said it hoped joint submissions on penalty might be more sensitive to current expectations and, in cases such as this, most particularly about the issue of recidivism. However, the penalty was not a marked departure from the joint submission on penalty and, by accepting it, the discipline process was not compromised.
Information about the disciplinary action appears online at oct.ca → Members → Complaints and Discipline → Decisions.
Member: Peter Gordon Lewer, OCT
Registration No.: 403576
Decision: Reprimand, conditions
A Discipline Committee panel reprimanded Hamilton-Wentworth DSB high school science teacher Peter Gordon Lewer for physically assaulting a student and for harassing and physically assaulting another teacher when their relationship ended.
Lewer was certified in June 1993. He represented himself at the September 25, 2012, hearing.
The panel considered evidence from two separate incidents. In October 2004, Lewer grabbed a 15-year-old male student by the shirt, pushed him into a gym wall, and applied force causing the boy to fall. And, subsequent to a relationship with an elementary school teacher during the 2005–06 school year, Lewer visited her home unannounced, refused to leave when asked, caused her to believe he was stalking her and to fear for her safety, and removed and replaced mail from her residential mailbox. Between September and October 2006, he became physical with the woman, causing her pain and facial bruising, which resulted in a criminal charge of harassment and his agreeing to enter into a peace bond with respect to the charge.
Having considered the evidence, onus and standard of proof, and the submissions of legal counsel and the member, the Discipline Committee panel found Lewer guilty of professional misconduct and ordered him to face the panel for a reprimand.
The panel also ordered Lewer to complete rehabilitative courses at his own expense on anger management and appropriate boundaries and boundary violation issues.
Information about the disciplinary action appears online at oct.ca → Members → Complaints and Discipline → Decisions.
