Shaikh v. Ottawa Hospital, 2010 HRTO 650

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

The Estate of Selma Shaikh by the Estate Trustee Mir Muhammed Shaikh

Applicant

-and-

The Ottawa Hospital, John Lorimer, Catherine Code, Patricia Pettica, Susan Longbottom, Allyssa Doyle and Karim Soliman

Respondents

AND B E T W E E N:

Mir Muhammed Shaikh

Applicant

-and-

Queensway Carleton Hospital, Tom McKibbin and Poonan Yahyavi

Respondents

Decision

Adjudicator: David Muir

Date: March 24, 2010

Citation: 2010 HRTO 650

Indexed as: Shaikh v. Ottawa Hospital

1These are two Applications filed on December 21, 2008 under section 53(3) of Part VI of the Ontario Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the "Code").

2The human rights complaints filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission in May 2007 (the "complaints") allege that Selma Shaikh's and Mir Muhammed Shaikh's right to be free from discrimination in the provision of services was infringed by the respondents. Ms. Shaikh's Application was commenced by Mir Muhammed Shaikh as trustee of her estate.

3On September 30, 2009, the applicants' representative advised the parties and the Tribunal that Mir Muhammed Shaikh had passed away and she was unable to obtain instructions for any purpose in either Application.

4The respondents delivered a Request for Order asking that the Tribunal direct the applicants' representative to confirm her authority to proceed with the Applications failing which asking that the Tribunal dismiss the Applications. To date, there has been no Response to this Request for Order.

5A Case Assessment Direction was issued on January 15, 2010 cancelling the scheduled hearing dates and directing the applicants' representative to confirm her authority to proceed with the Applications and seeking submissions from all parties with respect to the Tribunal's jurisdiction to consider the Applications. The Tribunal advised the parties that if no submissions were received, it might decide the jurisdictional issue on the basis of the materials in the file.

6The respondents provided their submissions. No response was ever received from the applicants' representative or from a trustee of either estate. There was no indication the Case Assessment Direction was not delivered to the applicants or their representative.

7In the circumstances, given the failure to respond to both the Request for Order and the Case Assessment Direction, it appeared that these Applications had been abandoned. In Shaikh v. Ottawa Hospital, 2010 HRTO 497, the Tribunal confirmed it would dismiss the Applications as abandoned unless a proper representative of the applicants' estates provides written submissions to the Tribunal with respect to the jurisdictional issue within five days of the March 5, 2010 date of this Interim Decision.

8As of this writing, no representative of the applicants' estates has provided the requested submissions or contacted the Tribunal in any fashion. Accordingly, these Applications are both dismissed as abandoned.