A teacher who is accused of disrupting a vaccine clinic in a high school cafeteria, telling students vaccinations could lead to death, appeared at a disciplinary hearing at the Ontario College of Teachers on Tuesday.
Timothy Sullivan is accused of professional misconduct by the college. The hearing notice from the college says he “told students not to get vaccinated and/or suggested that they should not get vaccinated” and told students “that they could die as a result of the vaccination” on March 9, 2015.
Sullivan, who is a science teacher in the Grand Erie District School Board and was representing himself at the hearing, said that he did warn students of the risks associated with vaccines.
The name of the school is under publication ban to protect the identities of students.
“I teach science,” Sullivan told the Star. “You don’t just teach one side of the story.”
But he denied the college’s allegations against him and said his issue is with informed consent, rather than vaccines.
Sullivan told the Star that he is “pro-informed consent, pro-asking questions, not an anti-vaxxer.”
“Informed consent is the reason I’m here,” Sullivan said. “It’s embarrassing really that I didn’t know about the effects as a parent, as a teacher, as a biology teacher. I was unaware of the severity of some of the side effects.”
Angela Swick, a registered nurse with the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, who was administering vaccines at Sullivan’s high school on the day of the incident, said he visited the clinic three times.
During his first visit to the clinic, he asked for the inserts included in each vaccine box. Students were receiving vaccines for polio, diphtheria, and other diseases that day, Swick said.
“But his tone and manner was abrupt and left us with an unsettled feeling,” Swick said. “He said something like ‘I hope you’re letting these students know these vaccines can cause death.’ I remember feeling threatened.”
Swick informed the principal of the school at that time, Brian Quistberg, about Sullivan’s behavior. Quistberg said he visited Sullivan’s class and asked that he not go back to the cafeteria, where the clinic was being held. Then, he locked the doors to the cafeteria closest to Sullivan’s classroom and checked up on the clinic regularly throughout the day.
During his second visit to the clinic, Sullivan “asked kids if they knew what was in this vaccine and shouted at them not to get it,” according to Swick.
“One student had mentioned to us that he wasn’t surprised that Sullivan would do this,” Swick said. “He’s been known to talk to his class about vaccines and not to get them.”
Concerns about Sullivan bringing up vaccinations in class have been expressed by both students and parents before, according to Quistberg. One incident that Quistberg notified the school board about occurred earlier in 2015 when one student left Sullivan’s class in tears after giving a presentation on vaccinations. An email sent by the student’s parents to Quistberg said that Sullivan “argued the information was incorrect” and his “anger level escalated.”
During his final visit to the clinic that day, Swick said Sullivan accused her of hiding information about the vaccines and was “very fixated on the fact that vaccines could cause death.”
During his harried cross-examination Sullivan extensively listed rare side effects to the vaccines that were being administered that day and asked Swick if she informed students about rare but potentially dangerous side effects. Swick said she notifies students about the most common side effects and will mention certain side effects if student’s answers to her screening questions make it relevant to do so.
A formal meeting was held after the events of March 9, 2015, according to Quistberg, to address Sullivan’s actions which were “over the line.” Sullivan was suspended on April 15, 2015 for one day without pay as a result.
“Clearly it is not the teachers job to address students lined up to get vaccinations,” Quistberg said. “That is a parent’s decision. That, to me, is outside your role.”
The hearing is scheduled to last two days.
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