In the past year in Ontario, there have been two reported trial
decisions dealing with sexual abuse of students by teachers. The
results were diametrically opposed – in one, no liability
against the teacher and his school board employer was found; in the
other, both the teacher and his school board employer were held
liable and significant damages were awarded. These different
outcomes are partly attributable to a different set of facts. They
also highlight the seeming reluctance of courts to conclude that
school boards should be responsible for harms caused to students by
the intentional sexual misconduct of their staff.
Hayward v. Cloutier, 2012 ONSC 3738
In the first case from Windsor, Ontario, the plaintiff claimed
he was sexually touched in the mid-1960s by his grade 4 teacher at
his local elementary school. He alleged his teacher briefly touched
his genitals at the back of the classroom while other students were
present but looking in another direction, and
