HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Doug Surh
Applicant
-and-
Toronto Police Services Board and Bradley Verspeeten
Respondent
INTERIM decision
Adjudicator: Judith Keene
Indexed as: Surh v. Toronto Police Services Board
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 February 25, 2010.
2On September 15, 2010, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Application to the respondents. The respondent was advised that a Response must be filed with the Tribunal by no later than October 20, 2010.
3On October 21, 2010, counsel for the personal respondent sought an extension of time to file a response. On November 17, 2010, the personal respondent filed a Response to the Application.
4As of the date of this Interim Decision the organisational respondent has not filed a Response, nor has the Tribunal’s correspondence to it been returned.
5An 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 organisational 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.
6The applicant has provided a mailing address for the headquarters of the organisational respondent. The Tribunal shall send a copy of this Interim Decision to the organisational respondent at that address by regular mail and courier.
7If the organisational respondent wishes to participate in this proceeding, a Response must be filed with the Tribunal by no later than December 6, 2010, together with an explanation of why the 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 this respondent and may take any or all of the steps set out in Rule 5.5.
8I am not seized of this matter.
Dated at Toronto, this 25^th^ day of November, 2010.
”signed by”_____________
Judith Keene
Vice-chair