B.C. teacher reprimanded over incident with nut-filled candy

An advent calendar with chocolates in it is shown in this stock image. (Credit: Shutterstock)

A B.C. teacher has been reprimanded after she inadvertently gave a child with a nut allergy a chocolate with hazelnut filling, according to the professional regulator.

Nancy LeAnn Babulal was teaching Grade 2 in Prince George in December of 2021 when the incident occurred, a consent agreement with the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation says.

Ultimately, the child did not consume the candy, but the teacher agreed that her actions amounted to professional misconduct because “they put a student’s health and safety at risk.”

The agreement notes that Babulal was aware of the child’s allergy to peanuts and tree nuts and that there was an EpiPen in the nurse’s office because of this. In previous years, Babulal had purchased advent calendars to bring to school that had toys in them. However, those were out of stock so she bought one with chocolates in it.

“Babulal brought this advent calendar to school without first checking to see if the chocolate contained nuts. The chocolate in the calendar did contain nuts, a fact which was included on the packaging,” the agreement said.

After the student with the allergy was invited to choose a candy, Babulal told the child not to eat it until she had checked it for nuts.

But the child left for the day before that could be done. After Babulal went looking for the student and could not find her, the teacher called the child’s mother to let her know what happened.

“(The student) had not consumed the chocolate,” the consent agreement said.

Babulal did not “immediately” inform the school adminisitration about the incident, the agreement adds.

A week after the incident with the chocolate, the school issued a disciplinary letter to Babulal and suspended her for two days without pay. The formal reprimand was agreed to in January of 2024.