The College uses Dispute Resolution (DR) to help resolve complaints regarding members of the profession. DR is voluntary and without prejudice to the parties. The outcomes of the process are similar to those that would be expected following a full investigation and/or contested hearing.
Summaries of the cases reported here are based on facts derived from agreements signed by the College Registrar and the member, which are ratifed by the Investigation Committee. Publication is a provision of the agreements.
dispute resolution
Member: James Russell Wadden
Registration number: 304321
Decision: Admonishment, certificate cancelled, undertaking
The Investigation Committee admonished James Russell Wadden for a criminal conviction for possessing child pornography. Wadden, who had retired from teaching in Nova Scotia and had his teaching certificate there revoked in April this year, was found not suitable to hold a certificate with the Ontario College of Teachers. He had not taught in Ontario since 1967.
The committee ratified a memorandum of agreement in which Wadden consented to the permanent cancellation of his certificate and undertook to never seek employment in a publicly funded education institution nor seek to be reinstated as a member of the College.
Member: Not identified
Decision: Admonishment, conditions
The Investigation Committee admonished a former Simcoe County DSB teacher for negligence in supervising students and for disregarding the health and safety of a colleague. In separate incidents in 2007 and 2008, the member failed to supervise students adequately at school and on school trips. In December 2007, the member brought peanut butter into the staff room and consumed it despite the allergies of a colleague and a school policy forbidding peanut butter on the premises. The member resigned from the board in 2008 and provided the College Registrar with a satisfactory Teacher Performance Appraisal from a subsequent employer.
The committee ratified a memorandum of agreement in which the member undertook to complete a course on the appropriate supervision of students at his own expense.
Member: Richard Dean Lessard, OCT
Registration number: 213355
Decision: Admonishment, undertaking, conditions
The Investigation Committee admonished Richard Dean Lessard, a former principal with the Ontario North East DSB, for failing to properly supervise and control access to EQAO tests and for permitting non-board personnel to use his board-issued computer to access pornography. Lessard resigned in the midst of a board investigation.
The committee ratified a memorandum of agreement in which Lessard undertook for four months to avoid seeking employment that required a teaching certificate. He also committed to paying for and completing courses on professional ethics and standards of behaviour as well as EQAO test management and administration, prior to resuming work.
Member: Not identified
Decision: Admonishment, undertaking, conditions
The Investigation Committee admonished a former Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic DSB teacher for sexually harassing a female colleague.
A board investigation revealed that the member engaged in sexual banter with female colleagues, poked their ribs or touched them while commenting on their triceps, placed his arm around their waists, rubbed their backs and gave unwanted hugs. He also wrote a poem to a female staff member using the words “juicy” and “orgasmic” for letters in her name. The woman complained to the board that the member had physically restrained her by grabbing her wrists and tightening his grip when she tried to get away.
An independent investigator reported that the member’s behaviour constituted sexual harassment under the Human Rights Code. However, he was never charged.
The committee ratified a memorandum of agreement in which the member undertook to complete a course on appropriate professional boundaries within four months at his own expense.
Member: Not identified
Decision: Admonishment, conditions
The Investigation Committee admonished a former Conseil scolaire de district de l’Est Ontarien teacher for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a Grade 12 female student.
The member sent a number of e-mails to the student, some with content unrelated to school, of a sexual nature and employing vulgar language. He spoke with her via phone on many occasions and more than once asked the student to step out of her classroom to talk for reasons other than school matters. He also met the student at her home once after her 18th birthday.
The committee ratified a memorandum of agreement in which the member undertook to complete a course on appropriate professional boundaries at his own expense.
Member: Not identified
Decision: Caution
The Investigation Committee cautioned a member to make wise choices related to alternative work while working as a teacher. The member appeared in videos on a public web site wearing thong swimwear and gyrating on the lap of an adult male. He was not employed as a teacher at the time and was performing in the context of pursuing a modelling career.
Member: Not identified
Decision: Admonishment, conditions
The Investigation Committee admonished a teacher with the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud for using physical contact to redirect a student and for not fostering positive relationships with students, parents and staff. The member also allowed students to be outside the classroom without adequate supervision. As well, the member revealed information about students to other students’ parents and used denigrating language in written communication.
The committee ratified a memorandum of agreement in which the member undertook to complete courses on classroom management and student discipline and on positive communication within 180 days at her own expense.
Member: Not identified
Decision: Undertaking, conditions
The Investigation Committee ratified a memorandum of agreement with a member who admitted to having violated EQAO test administration rules and to having demonstrated a lack of competency in certain areas of his teaching practice.
In administering the EQAO test, the member pointed to the correct answer to a multiple choice question in a student booklet, let students help each other, and wrote the correct answer in one student booklet.
The member also acknowledged that he rarely marked students’ homework, tolerated rude comments from students without intervening, left the classroom while students were there, failed to keep adequate data on student performance, gave answers to tests, defied the principal’s authority and did not show a willingness to collaborate, adopting a negative attitude toward the principal’s suggestions and plans for improvement.
The member, employed at the time by the Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grandes-Rivières, undertook not to teach for 30 days and to complete courses at his own expense on professional ethics and EQAO test administration and classroom management and supervision.
When the Discipline Committee finds a member guilty of professional misconduct, the member’s name may be published in Professionally Speaking. If a similar matter is disposed of by the Investigation Committee or DR at the investigation stage, and the result is a caution, the name of the member is not published. The College monitors compliance with all agreements reached through DR.
