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eVote 2006

Reports


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Hearings

Panels of the Discipline Committee have ordered summaries of recent disciplinary cases to be published in Professionally Speaking.


Member: Not identified
Decision: Suspended with conditions

A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on May 29, 2006 into allegations of professional misconduct against a member who was employed as a principal and a teacher by different employers in Ontario. The member attended the hearing and was represented by counsel.

The member faced eight allegations of professional misconduct related to physical abuse of male students.

College counsel withdrew all allegations at the beginning of the hearing except that of conduct unbecoming a member.

The panel received an agreed statement of facts, plea of no contest and joint submission on penalty. In the agreement the member admitted that during the 2001–02 academic year, while employed as a principal at a private school, he saw a Grade 2 student hit a younger student who was the principal's son. The member grabbed the Grade 2 student by the jacket collar and escorted him to his office while speaking angrily to him.

The member also admitted that during the 2002–03 academic year, while employed as a probationary occasional teacher, he repeatedly reprimanded a Grade 8 student for misbehaving and told the student to put his head on his desk. When the student did not do so quickly enough, the member pushed the student's head onto the desk with sufficient force that the student's tooth cut his lip and caused a small amount of bleeding.

In May 2004 the member was found guilty in a court of law on a charge of assault. The member was given an absolute discharge and agreed to make a charitable donation. The member appealed the finding of guilt but his appeal was dismissed.

The panel found the member guilty of professional misconduct and imposed the penalty suggested by the joint submission on penalty. The panel directed the Registrar to suspend the member's Certificates of Qualification and Registration for three months. However, the suspension is not to be imposed if the member successfully completes, at his own expense, a course in anger management. The panel accepted evidence that the member has already successfully completed the course.

The member must also ask the principal of his current place of employment to send a report to the Registrar attesting to the favourable and satisfactory conduct of the member.

The member's counsel argued against publication of his client's name in the College's official publication since the member had already completed the anger management course and a positive interim report had already been sent to the Registrar by his current employer. College counsel argued that the normal practice is to publish the member's name in the interest of maintaining public confidence in the profession and there was no compelling reason to deviate from the normal practice.

The panel ordered that the facts of the hearing be published without the name of the member. The panel found that the actions of the member, while constituting professional misconduct, were minor in nature and that the member has been proactive in his rehabilitation.

The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register.


Member: Phillip John Fernandez
Registration Number: 259574
Decision: Revocation

A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on September 20, 2006 into allegations of professional misconduct against Phillip John Fernandez. Fernandez was certified to teach in 1994 and was employed as a teacher by the Durham Catholic District School Board. The member did not attend the hearing and was not represented by counsel.

Phillip John Fernandez faced eight allegations of professional misconduct related to his conviction under the Criminal Code for sexual assault of a person under the age of 14.

In Fernandez' absence, the chair of the panel entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

The panel received court documents that indicated Fernandez had been found guilty in February 2006 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice of sexual assault and sexual touching of a 14-year-old girl.

According to the court documents, the incidents occurred between July 2001 and February 2003. Fernandez used the Internet to contact a 12-year-old girl, representing himself as 19 years of age. He lured the girl to a number of meetings at his home over a 20-month period where he engaged in sexual intercourse with her.

Fernandez was sentenced to three years in prison. He was prohibited from using a computer for the purpose of communicating with anyone under the age of 14 years for a period of 10 years.

The panel found Fernandez guilty of professional misconduct and ordered that his Certificates of Qualification and Registration be revoked.

The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register.


Member: Not identified
Decision: Reprimand

A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on September 27, 2006 into allegations of professional misconduct against a member employed by the Grand Erie District School Board. The member attended the hearing and was represented by counsel.

The member faced six allegations of professional misconduct related to his guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance.

The panel received an agreed statement of facts and joint submission on penalty. According to the agreed statement, in 2003, the member was charged under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act with trafficking in marijuana.

In 2004, the member pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and charges of trafficking were withdrawn. He made a contribution to the Health Department of $400 and the judge granted the member an absolute discharge.

The member pleaded no contest to the allegations and the panel found him guilty of professional misconduct.

The panel ordered the member to appear before it to be reprimanded and the fact of the reprimand to be recorded on the public register. Counsel for the member argued against publication of the member's name.

The panel noted in its written decision that since the offence did not involve students or take place in a school environment, and since the member had been granted an absolute discharge in court, the public interest was served by publishing the facts without the member's name.

The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register.


Member: John Philip Morris
Registration Number: 231367
Decision: Resignation and reprimand

A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on September 20, 2006 into allegations of professional misconduct against John Philip Morris. Morris was employed as an elementary teacher by the Peel District School Board and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. The member attended the hearing and was represented by counsel.

Morris faced allegations of professional misconduct related to inappropriate touching of female students.

The panel received an agreement statement of facts, plea of no contest and joint submission on penalty. In the agreed statement, Morris pleaded no contest to allegations that on a number of occasions between 1969 and 2001, he engaged in at least 16 incidents of inappropriately touching female students in areas that included the chest and buttocks.

In the agreed statement, Morris did not contest that the touching was inappropriate in its location and demonstrated a lack of appreciation of appropriate physical boundaries with students, inappropriate disciplinary tactics and poor judgment in matters of interpersonal communication. Morris also failed to heed the advice of his employers to adopt a “no touch” policy.

On September 12, 2006, Morris resigned his Certificates of Qualification and Registration and stated his intention to never re-apply to teach in Ontario.

The panel found Morris guilty of professional misconduct. The panel ordered that he appear before the panel to be reprimanded and the fact of the reprimand be recorded on the public register.

In its written decision, the panel noted that if Morris had not resigned, it may well have revoked his Certificates of Qualification and Registration.

The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register.

Glossary of terminology

The vocabulary used to report disciplinary hearings reflects their quasi-judicial nature. If you wonder what some terms mean, help is at hand.

For past and future reference, the College has posted a glossary of terms on its web site. A link to the glossary can be found on the decision-summary page.

Visit Glossary of Terms.