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Fairness - Variable Degree of Fairness Owed. Bortolon v. College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario
In Bortolon v. College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario (Ont Div Ct, 2025) the Ontario Divisional Court cited a case on the variable degree of fairness owed, here in RHPA matters:
[22] In RS v. EF, 2023 CanLII 7337 (ON HPARB), at paras. 77-78, the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board said the following about the level of procedural fairness owed to members of a health profession:77. This Board has previously stated that:Procedural fairness is owed to a professional member in circumstances where the Committee identifies substantive new issues or interprets the issues differently than the member during the course of its investigation, and where the Committee intends to be critical of a member’s practice and to take some action concerning this member. [Citation omitted.] 78. The Board observes that these standards, at a minimum, include providing notice to a member of any new concerns that have been identified by the Committee and providing the member with an opportunity to respond to same when they form a substantial basis for the findings of the Committee, as in the case here. ....
[25] However, while the potential impact of a decision on the member affected is relevant to the required level of procedural fairness, in paragraph 26 of Maini, the court goes on to confirm that the member must none-the-less be given sufficient information to answer the case against him or her:This Court has recognized that “The standard of disclosure at the screening or investigative stage has been held to require adequate notice to ensure that a member has sufficient information to answer the case against him or her. It has also been held that it is adequate at the investigative stage for the member to know the allegations or substance of the complaint against him or her, not all of the information obtained during the course of the investigation.” [Citation omitted.]
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