An application for review of an Inquiry Decision dismissing a complaint as frivolous or vexatious may itself be summarily dismissed by the Health Professions Review Board where it has no reasonable prospect of success. This is illustrated in The Complainant and College of Psychologists of B.C. and a Registrant (March 30. 2010), HPRB Decision No. 2009-HPA-0009(a).
The original complaint alleged a registrant who had authored a pre-sentencing report made several errors and engaged in misconduct, including misreporting and misrepresenting information, coercing the complainant, making unfounded comments, failing to include positive information and lying in the report. The Inquiry Committee examined the pre-sentence report, and noted the registrant obtained informed consent from the complainant, referred to records, qualified his statements where necessary, and drew conclusions based on data, consistent with accepted professional practice in the area.
The Review Board found the application for review had no reasonable prospect of success: the College took reasonable steps to investigate the complaint, and came to a reasonable conclusion. No evidence on the record took the complaint out of the realm of conjecture. The Review Board also pointed out inconsistencies in complainant’s own evidence, that the complainant did not call the presentence report into question prior to sentencing.
The Complainant and College of Psychologists of B.C. and a Registrant (March 30. 2010) (Summary of HPRB Decision No. 2009-HPA-0009(a))