Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
B E T W E E N:
Wajahat Ali Sheikh Applicant
-and-
1423005 Ontario Inc. o/a Travel and Tours Experts Respondent
INTERIM decision
Adjudicator: Brian Eyolfson Date: July 20, 2010 Citation: 2010 HRTO 1566 Indexed as: Sheikh v. 1423005 Ontario
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 December 16, 2009.
2On February 19, 2010, 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 February 19, 2010. As of the date of this Interim Decision, the respondent has not filed a Response, nor has the Tribunal's correspondence addressed to it 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 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 originally provided a mailing address and a fax number for a contact person, Mohammed Ali, for the respondent. Subsequently, in email correspondence dated July 14, 2010, the applicant provided the Tribunal with a new mailing address for the respondent and advised the Tribunal that he recently hand-delivered the Application to Mr. Ali. The applicant further advised the Tribunal that he named Mr. Ali as the contact person for the respondent in his Application and that he wished to amend his Application to include Mr. Ali as an individual respondent.
5The Tribunal shall send a copy of this Interim Decision and the applicant's July 14, 2010 email correspondence to the respondent and Mr. Ali by regular mail and courier at the address contained in the Application, the new address provided by the applicant, and by fax.
6If the respondent wishes to participate in this proceeding, it shall file a Response within 14 days of the date of this Interim Decision, together with an explanation of why a 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.
7In addition, within 14 days of the date of this Interim Decision, Mr. Ali may respond to the applicant's request that he be named as an individual respondent in this Application.
8I am not seized of this matter.
Dated at Toronto, this 20^th^ day of July, 2010.
"signed by"_______________
Brian Eyolfson Vice-chair