Evangeline Vihos v. Hudson Bay Company, 2009 HRTO 2249

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Evangeline Vihos Applicant

-and-

Hudson Bay Company Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Brian Eyolfson Date: December 22, 2009 Citation: 2009 HRTO 2249 Indexed as: Vihos v. Hudson Bay Company

1The applicant filed an Application under section 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 as amended, (the “Code”) on August 21, 2009.

2On September 17, 2009, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Application to the respondent. The respondent was advised that a Response must be filed with the Tribunal not later than 35 days after September 17, 2009. As of the date of this Interim Decision the respondent has not filed a Response, nor has the Tribunal’s correspondence been returned.

3An application to the Tribunal starts a legal proceeding. A finding that a violation of the Code has occurred may lead to various orders, including monetary compensation, other forms of restitution to the applicant, and orders to take action to promote compliance with the Code. Failure to file a response or participate in a Tribunal proceeding may lead to orders against individual and corporate respondents without their participation. The respondent’s attention is drawn to Rule 5.5 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure which reads as follows:

5.5 Where an Application is delivered to a Respondent who does not respond to the Application, the Tribunal may:

a) deem the Respondent to have accepted all of the allegations in the Application;

b) proceed to deal with the Application without further notice to the Respondent;

c) deem the Respondent to have waived all rights with respect to further notice or participation in the proceeding;

d) decide the matter based only on the material before the Tribunal.

4The applicant has provided an address, phone number, and email address of a contact person for the respondent. The Tribunal shall send a copy of this Interim Decision to the respondent by regular mail, courier and email.

5If the respondent wishes to participate in this proceeding, it shall file a Response within 10 days of the date of this Interim decision, together with an explanation of why the Response was not filed in accordance with the Notice of Application. If a Response is not received, the Tribunal may proceed without further notice to the respondent and may take any or all of the steps set out in Rule 5.5.

6I am not seized of this matter.