Hall v. Sharma, 2010 HRTO 1951

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Timothy Hall Applicant

-and-

Poonam Sharma Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Ena Chadha Date: September 28, 2010 Citation: 2010 HRTO 1951 Indexed as: Hall v. Sharma

BACKGROUND

1The applicant filed an Application under section 34 of Part IV of the Ontario Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 as amended (the "Code"), on July 15, 2009 alleging discrimination in the area of services, goods and facilities on the basis of disability. The applicant alleges that he missed his appointment with the respondent, a psychiatrist, due to his disability. The applicant alleges that the respondent discriminatorily denied him medical services and failed to accommodate his disability when she refused his request to be rescheduled to a time better suited to his disability-related needs

2The respondent filed a Response on September 29, 2009, denying the allegations of discrimination and failure to accommodate. The respondent alleges that the applicant's appointment was not rescheduled because of his threatening conduct.

3A Tribunal hearing into this matter is scheduled for December 13, 2010.

4On August 24, 2010, the respondent filed a Request for an Order During Proceedings seeking that the Tribunal hearing be deferred until the appeal process before the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board ("HPARB") has been completed. The respondent notes that the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee ("ICRC") of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario conducted a review the applicant's allegations against the respondent and rendered a six-page decision concluding that, in the circumstances, the respondent did not have a duty to accommodate the applicant. The applicant has appealed this ICRC decision to the HPARB. The HPARB process has commenced and the parties are awaiting disclosure. The respondent submits that the Tribunal should defer the Application until the outcome of the HPARB process.

5The applicant did not file a response to the respondent's Request to defer and the timeline for doing so has elapsed.

DECISION

6The 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 (Rule 14.1). The Tribunal will 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.

7Deferral of an application ensures that proceedings dealing with the same issues do not run concurrently, thereby raising the possibility of inconsistent decisions on facts or law. Some factors that have been identified as relevant in deciding whether to defer consideration of an application before the Tribunal are: the subject matter of the other proceeding, the nature of the other proceeding, the types of remedies available in the other proceeding, and whether it would be fair overall to the parties to defer, having regard to the status of each proceeding and the steps that have been taken to pursue them. See Baghdasserians v. 674469 Ontario, 2008 HRTO 404.

8I find that it is appropriate to defer this matter because the HPARB proceeding is on-going and relates to the identical allegations and issues contained in the Application. The HPARB appeal arises out of the exact same events that underlie the subject matter of this Application. The ICRC decision addressed the applicant's human rights concerns of accommodation and HPARB will consider the propriety of ICRC's findings, which one or both parties may rely upon in the Tribunal hearing of the Application. As such, I find it appropriate to defer the Application until the outcome of the HPARB process.

CONCLUSION

9The Tribunal orders that this Application be deferred pending the conclusion of the HPARB appeal proceeding. The Tribunal directs the parties' attention to Rules 14.3 and 14.4 which outline the process by which a party may request, in accordance to Rule 19, the Tribunal to proceed with an application after the conclusion of another process.

10I am not seized.