Kenneth Baldwin v. Thames Valley District School Board and Carolyn May, 2009 HRTO 1638

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Kenneth Baldwin

Applicant

-and-

Thames Valley District School Board and Carolyn May

Respondents

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Kaye Joachim

Date: October 8, 2009

Citation: 2009 HRTO 1638

Indexed as: Baldwin v. Thames valley District School Board

1This is an Application filed October 20, 2008 under Part VI of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 as amended, (the "Code"). The purpose of this Interim Decision is to address the respondents' request for deferral in light of a parallel arbitration proceeding. The Case Resolution Conference (hearing) in this matter is scheduled for November 19 and 20, 2009.

DEFERRAL REQUEST

2The complaint underlying the present Application filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission on June 25, 2007, alleging discrimination and harassment on the basis of disability arising from an administrative transfer in 2007. The applicant's union filed a grievance alleging that the administrative transfer was contrary to the collective agreement and unsuitable for the applicant.

3The grievance was referred to arbitration and the hearing is scheduled to begin on February 11, 2010.

4The applicant opposes the deferral request.

5The Tribunal may defer consideration of an application, on such terms as it may determine, on its own initiative or at the request of any party. The Tribunal will generally defer an application where there is an ongoing grievance under a collective agreement based on the same facts and issues. However, the Tribunal must also consider, in light of the particular circumstances of each case, whether deferral is the most fair, just and expeditious way of proceeding with the application.

6In my view, in light of the overlapping factual matters and the stage of the arbitration proceedings, the factors favouring deferral of this Application outweigh the factors favouring the Tribunal proceeding with the Application.

7Accordingly, the Tribunal will defer the Application. Where a party wishes to proceed with an application which has been deferred, the party must contact the Registrar-Transition no later than 60 days after the conclusion of the other proceeding.

8The Case Resolution Conference scheduled for November 19 and 20, 2009 is cancelled.