Philip Matthews v. Medallion Corporation and Susan Drakes, 2010 HRTO 311

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Philip Matthews

Applicant

-and-

Medallion Corporation and Susan Drakes

Respondents

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Jay Sengupta

Date: February 10, 2010

Citation: 2010 HRTO 311

Indexed as: Matthews v. Medallion

INTRODUCTION

1This Interim Decision determines the applicant’s request to consolidate his Applications against the respondents in Tribunal files 2009-02090-I and 2009-03860-I and addresses the applicant’s request for an adjournment of the February 22, 2010 hearing date.

REQUEST TO CONSOLIDATE

2The applicant filed the Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (“the Code”) in File 2009-02090-I on April 27, 2009, alleging that the respondents discriminated against him on the basis of disability in respect of housing by refusing to rent him an apartment because of his “bad” credit history, which he contends is a direct result of his disability. For their part, the respondents submit that the applicant never applied for tenancy and never disclosed the existence of or any need to accommodate his disability to the respondents.

3In Tribunal file 2009-03860-I, filed on October 14, 2009, the applicant alleges that the respondents discriminated against him on the basis of disability and reprisal in respect of housing by refusing to cash rent cheques for October, November and December 2009 and by refusing to respond to a request to assign his mother’s tenancy to him as he submits is required by section 95 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17. The respondents deny the allegations that they refused to cash cheques and deny that they breached the Code by not responding to a request to assign the tenancy or otherwise.

4On October 14, 2009, the applicant filed a Request for Order during Proceedings, requesting that the Applications in Tribunal files 2009-02090-I and 2009-03860-I be consolidated. In response to an earlier Interim Decision in this matter, 2010 HRTO 209, on February 4, 2010, the respondents wrote to the Tribunal and indicated their consent to the applicant’s request for consolidation.

5There appears to be significant overlap in the facts in the Applications in 2009-2090-I and 2009-03860-I and that the hearing in respect of both matters could likely be completed in one day. The parties are the same in both Applications. In all of the circumstances, including the parties’ consent, I hereby direct that the Applications be consolidated and heard together on February 22, 2010, subject to the applicant’s outstanding adjournment request, addressed further below.

ADJOURNMENT REQUEST

6A one-day hearing in respect of the consolidated Applications is currently scheduled for February 22, 2010.

7In an email to the Tribunal dated February 8, 2010, the applicant requests an adjournment of the February 22, 2010 hearing “due to time limits and issues raised by respondent’s documents (discrepancy between what respondent says documents are and what they actually are)”. The applicant asserts that an adjournment will permit him to obtain necessary documents concerning the veracity and credibility of the respondents’ position.

8I do not feel that I fully comprehend the reasons for the applicant’s adjournment request.

9The Tribunal hereby directs the applicant to write to the Tribunal by no later than Friday, February 12, 2010, with a copy to the respondents, explaining more clearly and/or more fully the reasons for his request for an adjournment of the February 22, 2010 hearing date. The respondents should write to the Tribunal by Tuesday, February 16, 2010, indicating whether they consent to the request for an adjournment or setting out their reasons for opposing the request.

10Pursuant to the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure, the parties are required to file any documents they wish to rely upon and an outline of what their witnesses will say 45 days before the hearing. Because of the consolidation of the Applications in Files 2009-02090-I and 2009-03860-I less than two weeks before the hearing, the parties have not yet had occasion to file their documents and witness statements in respect of 2009-03860-I with the Tribunal or to exchange them with one another. In their submissions to the Tribunal regarding the applicant’s adjournment request, the parties should indicate whether there are additional documents or witnesses’ evidence that they wish to rely upon in respect of the Application in Tribunal File 2009-03860-I, and how, if at all, this is a factor affecting the applicant’s adjournment request.

11The Tribunal will make a final determination regarding the adjournment of the February 22, 2010 hearing date after hearing from the parties on this issue, in accordance with the above.

12I am not seized.