Christopher R. Dunn

The applicant filed an application alleging age discrimination in employment.

The applicant had also filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission based on the same facts.

The Tribunal issued a Notice of Intent to Defer to avoid concurrent proceedings.

The respondent submitted that the application should be deferred.

The Tribunal ordered the deferral of the application pending the conclusion of the Nova Scotia proceeding to prevent inconsistent decisions.

The appellant appealed a decision upholding a case management master's order that denied full documentary production prior to a motion to stay the action for arbitration.

The Divisional Court clarified the standard of review for orders of case management masters, holding that discretionary decisions and interlocutory matters of law not vital to the disposition of the lawsuit are subject to a standard of deference and should not be interfered with unless clearly wrong.

Finding that the master's decision on documentary production was not vital to the disposition of the lawsuit, the court dismissed the appeal.