Fitzsimmons v. Worley Parsons M&M Canada, 2009 HRTO 1376

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Lawrence Fitzsimmons

Applicant

-and-

Worley Parsons M&M Canada Inc., Janet Procunier and Jose Suarez

Respondents

interiM DECISION

Adjudicator: Alison Renton

Date: September 1, 2009

Citation: 2009 HRTO 1376

Indexed as: Fitzsimmons v. Worley Parsons M&M Canada

1This Application, signed on August 3 and filed on August 5, 2009, alleges discrimination in employment contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the “Code”). On August 3, 2009, the applicant signed a Request to Expedite the Application on the basis that the “company is currently in financial trouble and may close up”. The applicant states that he “would lose [his] right to a hearing, and suffer financially & emotionally” if the Request is denied. The respondents have not filed a Response to Request to Expedite Proceedings and the time for such filing has now passed.

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.

4This Request to Expedite does not meet the high threshold required by the Tribunal’s jurisprudence. The applicant’s concern about a possible closure of the corporate respondent is speculative and does not provide sufficient grounds for expediting. 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 am not seized of this matter.