HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Mark Roberts
Applicant
-and-
Royal LePage Partners Realty Inc.
Respondent
INTERIM DECISION
Adjudicator: Mark Hart
Indexed as: Roberts v. Royal LePage Partners Realty
1The hearing in this matter is scheduled to proceed on Wednesday, September 22, 2010. This Interim Decision addresses the applicant’s request for an adjournment, which is opposed by the respondent.
2By fax dated September 17, 2010, the applicant sought an adjournment of the hearing on the basis that he was waiting on Legal Aid, witnesses and documents.
3On September 17, 2010, the Tribunal wrote to the parties to request the respondent’s position on the adjournment request. In response, on September 17, 2010, the respondent opposed the adjournment request on the basis that this matter has been long delayed and the applicant has had ample time to prepare.
4The Tribunal’s Practice Direction on Scheduling of Hearings and Mediations, Rescheduling Requests, and Requests for Adjournments states:
The HRTO discourages requests for adjournments outside the ten-day period to request rescheduling of a hearing . . . . Requests for adjournments, particularly at the last minute, are a significant impediment to fair and timely access to justice. Therefore, the HRTO will only grant adjournments in extraordinary circumstances such as illness of a party, witness or representative. Absent exceptional circumstances, the HRTO will not grant adjournments, even when all parties consent.
Where a party seeks to adjourn a previously scheduled mediation or hearing, they must contact the Registrar as soon as the need arises. They must contact the other parties to seek their consent, and to discuss alternative dates for the rescheduling of the mediation or hearing.
The party making the request should contact the Registrar and provide the exceptional circumstances supporting the request and any alternative agreed upon dates. Where the request is on short notice, the party must contact the Registrar by email or fax, copied to the other parties.
5This matter was scheduled for hearing by letter from the Tribunal dated April 22, 2010. In that letter, the applicant was advised that he was required to make disclosure of all arguably relevant documents by no later than June 4, 2010, and was to provide notice of his witnesses and a brief statement of their evidence by September 2, 2010.
6In my view, the applicant has had more than ample notice of the hearing in this matter, and more than ample time to prepare. Accordingly, the adjournment request is denied and the hearing will proceed as scheduled on September 22, 2010 commencing at 9:30 a.m.
7I am not seized.
Dated at Toronto, this 20th day of September, 2010.
“Signed by”
Mark Hart
Vice-chair