Thorne v. Canadian Hospitality Security Alliance Inc., 2009 HRTO 1312

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Stephen Thorne Applicant

-and-

Canadian Hospitality Security Alliance Inc. Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Brian Eyolfson Date: August 25, 2009 Citation: 2009 HRTO 1312 Indexed as: Thorne v. Canadian Hospitality Security Alliance

1The applicant filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”), on March 5, 2009, alleging discrimination on the ground of record of offences in the area of employment.

2In an earlier Interim Decision, 2009 HRTO 1105, the Tribunal denied the applicant’s Request to Expedite and sought written submissions from the applicant on the issue of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to hear the Application. The Tribunal directed as follows:

The applicant’s submissions should be delivered to the respondent and filed with the Tribunal by August 12, 2009. Following receipt of the submissions, or if the applicant does not provide submissions by the date set, the Tribunal may consider whether the Application should be dismissed under Rule 13 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure, which permits it to dismiss all or part of an application that is outside its jurisdiction.

To date, the applicant has not filed written submissions as directed by the Tribunal.

3In his Application, the applicant marked “record of offences” as the only ground of alleged discrimination. On the Form 1-A, which asks specific questions about employment discrimination, the applicant answered “no” to the questions “Do you believe you were discriminated against because of your record of offences under a federal law (Criminal Code offence)?” and “Do you believe you were harassed or discriminated against because of your record of offences under provincial law (such as the Highway Traffic Act)?”.

4The Tribunal does not have a general power to evaluate employment relationships, but hears applications that allege violations of the Code. In employment, s. 5(1) of the Code prohibits discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability. Section 10(1) defines record of offences as a conviction for:

(a) an offence in respect of which a pardon has been granted under the *Criminal Records Act* (Canada) and has not been revoked; or

(b) an offence in respect of any provincial enactment.

5The applicant states that he does not believe he was harassed or discriminated against as a result of a conviction for either offence. In addition, there does not appear to be anything in the narrative of the Application that refers to “record of offences” as defined by the Code.

6In the circumstances, I find that the Application does not raise matters which the Tribunal has the power to decide. Accordingly, the Application is dismissed.