Gloria Ramnath v. Humber River Regional Hospital, 2010 HRTO 530

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

B E T W E E N:

Gloria Ramnath Applicant

-and-

Humber River Regional Hospital Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Sherry Liang Date: March 11, 2010 Citation: 2010 HRTO 530 Indexed as: Ramnath v. Humber River Regional Hospital

1This is an Application dated December 18, 2009, made under section 34 of Part IV of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 as amended, (the “Code”).

2On February 5, 2010, the Tribunal issued a Notice of Intent to Dismiss, directing the applicant to file submissions on issues raised in the Notice. The Tribunal stated that it appeared that the Application was outside its jurisdiction because it has been filed more than a year after the last incident of discrimination described in the Application. Further, the Tribunal stated that, as the applicant indicated that she is filing the Application on behalf of her deceased mother, she must provide the Tribunal with documents establishing that she has the right to bring a legal proceeding on behalf of the estate of her deceased mother.

3The applicant has provided her submissions in response to the Notice. She has also provided a letter from a lawyer that she believes supports her position that she is entitled to bring this Application on behalf of the estate of her deceased mother.

DECISION

4I will assume, without deciding, for the purpose of this decision that section 34 of the Code permits Applications to be brought by the estate of a deceased individual. Even assuming that such an Application may be made, the material before me does not establish that the applicant is entitled to bring this Application on behalf of the estate.

5It appears from the material before me that the applicant’s mother died without a will appointing an executor or executrix. It also appears that no one has been appointed an estate administrator by the courts. The letter from the lawyer references the fact that there are six siblings, none of whom has the support of the others to be appointed as estate administrator. The applicant is apparently pursuing a Small Claims Court action involving at least one of her siblings, for compensation for a share of the estate.

6When an individual dies and an executor is appointed through a will, that executor has the authority to act on behalf of the estate. Where there is no will, then there is no one with lawful authority to deal with the estate unless the court appoints an estate administrator: Oosterhoff on Wills and Succession, A.H. Oosterhoff, 5th ed., Carswell, 2001. It is the role of the court to decide who may act on behalf of an estate as the estate administrator and, if there is a dispute about who should be appointed, to resolve that dispute.

7The fact that the applicant may pursue or is pursuing a Small Claims Court action to seek a share of the estate does not establish that she has the right to act on behalf of the estate in bringing this Application. Without either a will to appoint her as executrix, or a court order appointing her as estate administrator, she cannot bring this Application on behalf of the estate.

8The Application accordingly cannot proceed.