The College investigates and considers complaints about members that relate to alleged professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity. If the Investigation Committee concludes that a complaint does not relate to one of those three matters or is frivolous, vexatious or an abuse of process, it does not proceed with the complaint.
Approximately four out of five complaints are not referred to the Discipline Committee but are dismissed or resolved by other means. Examples of cases considered by the Investigation Committee and not referred to a hearing are provided here.
investigations
Case #1
Complaint: Not addressing concerns of physical assault by a student
Outcome of investigation: Not referred and no further action
A parent filed a complaint with the College stating that a member, a school administrator, did not conduct an appropriate follow-up to a physical assault of her child by another student. More specifically, the parent expressed concerns that the member did not notify her of the incident and did not investigate it in a fair and thorough manner, failed to address the student’s pattern of violence and instructed the classroom teacher not to speak to the complainant regarding the event.
The member submitted that she first became aware of the incident a few days after it occurred, upon being informed by a fellow school administrator, and that she then took on the investigation and completed it. The member also responded that, to her knowledge, there were no prior incidents between the two students that would indicate a pattern of violence. The member denied having directed the teacher to not further discuss the altercation with the complainant.
After reviewing the information arising from the College’s investigation, a panel of the Investigation Committee determined that no further action would be taken in this complaint. The panel was of the opinion that the member was not in a position to notify the complainant of the incident, as she was not aware of it at the time. The panel determined that the member had acted appropriately in conducting the investigation into the matter. The panel also concluded that the information it received did not support the existence of a pattern of violence, and thus there was no failure on the part of the member to address such a pattern. Regarding the direction to the classroom teacher, the panel expressed its view that, in some circumstances, it is appropriate for a member in a supervisory role to provide such direction to a classroom teacher
Case #2
Complaint: A number of concerns regarding the conduct of a member
Outcome of investigation: Do not investigate duplicated allegations
The College received a complaint describing various allegations pertaining to a member’s conduct. Given that one of the complainants had, in the past, brought to the College similar allegations against the same member, the allegations were put to a panel of the Investigation Committee to determine if the allegations that appeared to be repeated should be considered anew by the panel.
The Ontario College of Teachers Act requires the College to investigate all written complaints against its members, with the exception of complaints that the Investigation Committee has determined are frivolous, vexatious, an abuse of process or not related to professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity.
In the current complaint, a panel of the Investigation Committee reviewed the allegations that appeared to be similar, along with the information provided by the complainants. The panel determined that some of the allegations were indeed essentially the same as allegations in a previous complaint, filed by one of the complainants. The panel was also of the view that the information provided by the complainants in the current complaint, although in a different format, was substantially the same as that provided in the original complaint. As a result, the panel determined that the repeated allegations were an abuse of process and therefore would not be investigated.
Glossary of terms
The vocabulary used to report disciplinary hearings reflects their quasi-judicial nature. For a glossary of terms, visit www.oct.ca.
