A Vancouver Island teacher has been handed a five-day suspension for his interactions with a student both at school and in the community, which the provincial regulator deemed to constitute professional misconduct.
High school teacher Edward John Thomas Mulrooney admitted that the incidents described in a consent agreement dated April 7 and posted online Tuesday did occur, according to the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.
The Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district first suspended Mulrooney in February 2021 after he reportedly looked at a female student—referred to as “Student A”—in the hallway in a manner that made her uncomfortable, the decision says.
“Student A and the two other students she was with believed that Mulrooney looked at Student A in a way that was ‘checking her out,’” the agreement reads.
The document notes that the district had previously issued the teacher a “letter of expectation” in October 2020 “regarding the need to maintain an appropriate and consistent level of professionalism when interacting with students.”
The district began investigating the teacher for the February incident and instructed him not to discuss the matter with the student. However, while the investigation was still ongoing in July 2021, Mulrooney had a confrontation with the student while she was at work.
According to the commissioner, Mulrooney claimed he didn’t know the cashier at a local business was the student who made the allegation because she was wearing a Covid mask.
“When Mulrooney was at the check-out till, he believed that Student A was ‘playing games’ with him and not treating him very well,” the agreement reads.
“Mulrooney asked Student A for her name, because she was not wearing a name tag. Student A told Mulrooney her name. Mulrooney said ‘ohhh, we have never met before,’ then wagged his finger at her and told her to ‘stop your little lies,’” it continues.
Another cashier stepped in and told Mulrooney not to speak to the student like that, to which he replied, “I think if you knew the kind of life I have had to live the last year, you’d think differently,” according to the report.
The decision says Mulrooney then raised his voice, made disrespectful comments to the student, demanded she tell the truth, and said she shouldn’t be working when he couldn’t. When a manager intervened, the commissioner says Mulrooney referenced a “charge” against him from the student that could make him lose his job.
“Mulrooney asked the store manager what the store manager was going to do to keep Mulrooney from ‘being challenged by vindictive young girls who obviously believe something about [Mulrooney] that is not true,’” the document reads.
The teacher went on to ask the manager to fire the student “more than once,” and later phoned the manager again to ask for the student to be fired, according to the report.
Mulrooney resigned from his employment with the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District in April 2022. In May of that year, the provincial commissioner ordered an investigation into his conduct, and then in February of this year issued a citation to him.
When reaching the consent agreement, the commissioner noted Mulrooney’s previous warning letter from the district and the fact he spoke to the student during the investigation.
In addition, “his interaction with Student A at her place of employment occurred in a public setting, he referred to his status as a teacher, and he was loud, threatening and intimidating,” the decision reads. “His actions were contrary to his responsibility as a role model, and his obligation to maintain the integrity and reputation of the profession.”
The commissioner decided to suspend Mulrooney’s teaching certification for five days, between May 5 and 9. He must also complete the Reinforcing Respectful Professional Boundaries course at the Justice Institute of B.C., and failure to do so could lead to further licence suspension.
