Canada-based Nigerian medical doctor suspended for hugging, blowing a kiss at a fellow worker .

Efe Ovueni, a Nigerian based in Canada, has been suspended from medical practice for three months for unprofessional conduct. The suspension was announced on Thursday following a hearing by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA)tribunal — the hearing was concluded in December 2021.

The doctor was said to have, on January 21, 2020, hugged a medical officer staff member and blown her a kiss without her consent. He was also fined $3,000 and is liable for the undisclosed cost of the hearing and investigation. With the fine and suspension which takes immediate effect, Ovueni has been banned from medical practice for over 90 days.

The doctor was found to have committed the offence on January 21, 2020. The doctor admitted his unprofessional conduct during the tribunal hearing, promising to turn a new leaf.

The tribunal determined that since the victim was a member of staff and not a patient, the doctor’s actions did not meet the criteria for s#xual misconduct under the health professions act. “Rather, this was a case of a boundary v!olation between a physician and a co-worker, demonstrating unprofessional conduct that was wholly unacceptable,” the tribunal report reads.

The tribunal also determined that Ovueni’s practice permit “shall be suspended for a period of 3 months, with 2 weeks to be served on dates acceptable to the Complaints Director and completed within 6 months of the date the Hearing Tribunal issues its written decision and 2.5 months held in abeyance on the condition that no further boundary concerns come to the attention of the Complaints Director and are referred to an investigation for a period of 5 years after the date the Hearing Tribunal issues its written decision”.