Hood v. Michael Shea Woodcarving, 2010 HRTO 2061

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Shannon Hood

Applicant

-and-

Michael Shea Woodcarving

Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Ken Bhattacharjee

Date: October 8, 2010

Citation: 2010 HRTO 2061

Indexed as: Hood v. Michael Shea Woodcarving

1The applicant filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended, on July 9, 2009, and the respondent filed a Response on September 28, 2009.

2On January 22, 2010, the Tribunal sent the parties a Notice of Mediation, which informed them that the Tribunal had scheduled a mediation of the Application for May 14, 2010.

3On May 14, 2010, the applicant’s sister called and informed the Tribunal that the applicant was unable to attend the mediation because she was in hospital. A Tribunal staff person informed the applicant’s sister that after the applicant was released from the hospital, she was required to notify the Tribunal in writing why she was unable to attend the mediation, and whether she wanted to reschedule the mediation.

4On June 16, 2010, a Tribunal staff person spoke with the applicant and repeated what had been told to her sister.

5On July 16, 2010, the Tribunal sent the applicant a Failure to Attend Mediation letter by mail, which stated:

Mediation in this matter was scheduled for Friday, May 14, 2010 to which you were not in attendance. You must advise the Tribunal of your intentions with respect to this Application.

If you would like to reschedule the Mediation then you must acquire consent from the other parties, in addition to a mutually agreeable date for rescheduling this matter.

If you do not respond within ten days of the date of this letter, the Tribunal will deem you to have abandoned the Application and close this file.

6On July 29, 2010, a Tribunal staff person attempted to call the applicant at the telephone number that she provided to the Tribunal, but the number was out of service. The staff person then re-sent the Failure to Attend Mediation letter to the e-mail address that she provided to the Tribunal, and asked her to respond to the letter.

7To date, the applicant has not contacted the Tribunal. In the circumstances, the applicant is deemed to have abandoned the Application. Accordingly, the Application is dismissed.