Crowley v. Liquor Control Board of Ontario, 2009 HRTO 2030

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Maureen Crowley Applicant

-and-

Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), Rick Redwood, Susan Quinn, Natalie Lachapelle, Anita Fulford, Marian Chipchase and Dan Dean Respondents

AND B E T W E E N:

Maureen Crowley Applicant

-and-

Ontario Public Service Employees Union Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Kaye Joachim Date: November 26, 2009 Citation: 2009 HRTO 2030 Indexed as: Crowley v. Liquor Control Board of Ontario

1This is an Application filed June 30, 2009 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.

DEFERRAL REQUEST

2The complaint underlying the present Application filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission on April 8, 2008, alleges discrimination and harassment on the basis of disability. In March 2007 the applicant's union (and the respondent in TR-0858-09) filed a grievance alleging workplace harassment and discrimination on terms largely similar to the factual allegations set out in the human rights complaint.

3The grievance was referred to arbitration and the hearing on the merits was scheduled to proceed on November 18, 2009. The applicant opposes the request for deferral and stated that she would not be attending the arbitration proceeding.

4The 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.

5In 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.

6Accordingly, 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.