James Brennan v. Coilpac Inc., 2009 HRTO 1193

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

James Brennan

Applicant

-and-

Coilpac Inc.

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Mary Truemner

Date: August 4, 2009

Citation: 2009 HRTO 1193

Indexed as: Brennan v. Coilpac

1This Application filed on June 19, 2009, alleges discrimination in employment contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”). On June 30, 2009, the applicant filed a Request to Expedite the Application on the basis that the “Company may be filing bankruptcy or closing.” The applicant states he “would not get a fair hearing” if the Request is denied.

2The Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure provide for applications to be dealt with in an expedited manner in urgent circumstances. Rule 21.1 provides that an applicant may request that the Tribunal deal with an application on an expedited basis in circumstances which require an urgent resolution of the issues in dispute. Rule 21.2 requires an applicant seeking an expedited application to identify urgent circumstances that may affect the fair and just resolution of the merits of the application and the harm that would result if the request is denied.

3In Weerawardane v. 2152458 Ontario Ltd., 2008 HRTO 53, at para. 9 the Tribunal held that, for a request to expedite to be granted, the applicant must demonstrate that the circumstances are truly urgent, requiring the resolution of the human rights dispute in a particularly rapid manner as compared with the time required to complete the Tribunal’s regular process.

4The respondent filed a Response to Request to Expedite Proceedings on July 24, 2009. It opposes the Request to Expedite on the basis that the applicant’s concern about a possible bankruptcy or closure is speculative, and does not provide sufficient grounds for expediting. I agree. This Request to Expedite does not meet the high threshold required by the Tribunal’s jurisprudence. In particular, the applicant does not demonstrate that the circumstances are truly urgent to justify giving this Application priority for Tribunal resources over other matters. The Request to Expedite is denied.

5I note that the parties have agreed to try mediation. The Response to the Application must be filed by August 21, 2009. Mediation will be set for a date after the Response has been filed.

6I am not seized of this matter.