Governing Ourselves informs members of legal and regulatory matters affecting the profession. This section provides updates on licensing and qualification requirements, notification of Council resolutions and reports from various Council committees, including reports on accreditation and discipline matters.
A MATTER OF INVESTIGATION
The College’s Investigation Committee considers all complaints made to the College about its members and reviews all information resulting from investigations. The committee can dismiss a complaint or refer the matter, in whole or in part, to the Discipline or Fitness to Practice committees for a hearing. The Investigation Committee may also caution or admonish the member in writing or in person, or provide written reminders or advice or ratify a Memorandum of Agreement reached through the complaint resolution process.
By law, cases under investigation are confidential. For the education of members, the following account, based on facts from real cases, raises important questions about teacher conduct such as what’s appropriate and what isn’t. Details have been altered to respect confidentiality.
investigation committee case study
He said he was just trying to be funny.
His colleagues said he didn’t have a filter.
His employer investigated, suspended and directed the teacher to take a course related to sexual harassment.
Further, the board wrote to alert the College, which sparked a Registrar-initiated investigation.
In carrying out its investigation, the College wrote to the board to request information and any documents related to the alleged misconduct, citing its legal right to do so under the Ontario College of Teachers Act. Typically, that may include employee history, any record of previous misconduct, board/school investigation notes, employer policies, and any police or Children’s Aid Society information.
According to witnesses, the member was alleged to have:
- asked a colleague “Who are you f***ing now?”
- referred to a colleague as “The Ballerina — because they don’t have breasts.”
- asked a female staff member who had a new boyfriend whether they were having sex yet
- rated female colleagues by their breast size
- introduced a scenario called “Marry, F***, Kill” in which he would rank his female colleagues according to whether he would marry them, have sex with them or kill them.
The committee learned that the alleged incidents went on for three years before they were reported to the employer.
During the investigation, where he was represented by his union, the member said he was on medication and under a psychiatrist’s care for depression at the time. He said he couldn’t recall making some of the alleged statements and that others were made outside school at staff social functions or not directed at anyone in particular. The school seemed to tolerate sexual banter and the use of profanity among staff, he said. Some of his colleagues, when questioned, said they didn’t think he was acting out of malice and that he stopped when asked.
“I was trying to be funny, but obviously I wasn’t,” the member said. “I didn’t mean to be vulgar.”
The member said he felt “ashamed” and “awful” about his comments. He regretted his conduct and said he had time to reflect on the concerns and that he took steps to educate himself through a training course to better understand the negative effects of the comments on his colleagues.
The Investigation Committee carefully reviewed the submissions of the parties and all relevant information available to the College, including the investigation report, letters, employer notes, documented board decisions, medical reports and witness statements.
The committee said that the witness information supported the claims and noted that the member admitted to some, but not all, of the comments. Further, none of the comments were about or directed at students or made in their presence. The committee also recognized that the teacher completed a course on sexual harassment at his employer’s direction.
If you were a member of the panel, what would you have decided?
The Outcome
As a result, the committee admonished the member in person. Admonishments are not disciplinary actions, but instead are constructive educational measures to help a member to improve practice and avoid future difficulties. They can be delivered in person or in writing. The matter ended at that point and was not referred for a formal Discipline Committee hearing.
Ontario’s teaching profession is a collective whose 235,000 members are held in high regard because of their ethical and professional standards — the guiding principles for teachers. Sexualized language and the sexual harassment of colleagues in the workplace is no laughing matter.
If a colleague routinely swore and made obscene sexual comments, what would you do?
