16 years' experience and clean record didn't save teacher from immediate dismissal
A teacher acquitted of criminal sexual assault charges was rightfully terminated for the same conduct, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled February 10, 2026, finding that workplace standards for sexual misconduct operate independently from criminal law. The three-judge panel dismissed Teri Edwards' appeal after she sat on a 15-year-old student's lap, bounced up and down, and ground her buttocks against him for 44 seconds.
The decision clarifies that adjudicators can characterize workplace conduct as sexual assault even when employers avoid using that term in termination letters, and that employees cannot hide behind criminal acquittals to challenge dismissals for cause.
Pembina Hills School Division terminated Edwards in March 2020 for "gross misconduct, a serious breach of her employment contract, and a serious transgression of the normal student/teacher boundaries," but never explicitly called it sexual assault in its termination letter. The Board of Reference, however, concluded that "the Appellant sat as close to [S's] body as she could and ground around on his lap, without his consent. That constitutes sexual assault."
On November 12, 2019, a classroom camera recorded Edwards entering a room where student S was working quietly with a program assistant. The Board found that S "was not being disruptive and was working well" when Edwards "marched in...
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