B.C. v. Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, 2010 HRTO 1859

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

B.C. by his Next Friend S.C.

Applicant

-and-

Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, John Kostoff, Ralph Borrelli and Tilia Cruz

Respondents

interiM DECISION

Adjudicator: Alison Renton

Date: September 10, 2010

Citation: 2010 HRTO 1859

Indexed as: B.C. v. Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board

1A hearing in this matter is scheduled for September 21, 22, and 23, 2010 pursuant to a Confirmation of Hearing notice issued by the Tribunal dated May 4, 2010.

2The Tribunal received correspondence from the applicant’s counsel dated September 7, 2010 requesting, on consent, that the scheduled hearing dates be adjourned and that one of the hearing days be converted to a mediation day.

3The request to adjourn the hearing is denied. The Tribunal’s Information Bulletin on Scheduling of Hearings and Mediations, Rescheduling Requests and Requests for Adjournments provides that requests to reschedule must be made within five (5) days of receiving the Confirmation of Hearing and that, thereafter, adjournments will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances.

4In Vallentyne v. Royal Canadian Legion, 2009 HRTO 680, at para. 4, the Tribunal held:

The Tribunal is committed to the fair, just and expeditious resolution of proceedings before it. It expects to receive thousands of applications each year. The Tribunal has a responsibility to ensure that public resources are used effectively to meet the demands of all parties before the Tribunal. Therefore, when an adjournment request is made, it is not only the interests of the parties to the particular proceeding must consider, but the fact that Tribunal time reserved for the resolution of those parties’ dispute will no longer be used. For that reason, among others, the Tribunal’s Information Bulletin on Scheduling of Hearings and Mediations, Rescheduling Requests and Requests for Adjournments indicates that even adjournment requests made on consent of the parties more than five days after the hearing is scheduled may be denied. The Tribunal has balanced the interests of parties in having hearings scheduled according to their and counsel’s availability with these broader interests by requiring that a party advise within five days that they are unavailable, and providing that requests for adjournment will not otherwise be granted, absent exceptional circumstances.

5The parties were notified of the hearing on May 4, 2010. The request for an adjournment is made well beyond five days after the notice of hearing and cites no exceptional circumstances that justify an adjournment in accordance with the Tribunal’s policies and jurisprudence.

6I have however considered the parties’ request and am prepared, in the particular circumstances of the case, to consider the request for adjournment as a request to engage in a mediation-adjudication on the first scheduled hearing day in accordance with Rule 15A.

15A.1 With the agreement of the parties, the Tribunal member hearing an Application may act as mediator. In such circumstances, the mediator may continue to hear the matter as adjudicator.

15A.2 Where the parties agree to mediation-adjudication, they must sign a mediation-adjudication agreement before the mediation commences

7If all parties consent to mediation/adjudication they are asked to sign the Tribunal’s Mediation/Adjudication Agreement and return it to the Registrar by September 20, 2010. If the parties do not wish to engage in mediation/adjudication or fail to return the signed Agreement by September 20, 2010, the hearing will proceed as scheduled. If mediation on September 21 is unsuccessful the hearing will proceed before me on September 22 and 23, 2010.

8I am seized of this matter.