Susan Leone v. Heather Solie, 2010 HRTO 855

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Susan Leone

Applicant

-and-

Heather Solie

Respondent

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Sherry Liang

Date: April 19, 2010

Citation: 2010 HRTO 855

Indexed as: Leone v. Solie

1This is an Application filed on March 27, 2009 under section 34 of Part IV of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 as amended (the "Code").

2On December 14, 2009 the Tribunal sent out a Confirmation of Hearing Notice to the parties to confirm that the Tribunal had scheduled the hearing in this matter for May 4 and 5, 2010. The Notice was sent to the applicant, the respondent, and the respondent's counsel.

3On April 7, 2010, the Tribunal issued a Case Assessment Direction reminding the parties of their obligations under the Rules of Procedure to disclose relevant documents and provide the material they intend to rely on at the hearing. To this date, no further documents have been received by the Tribunal.

4However, the respondent has, by letter received April 9, 2010, requested an adjournment of the hearing. The reason given is that she has retained new counsel, who requires time to "get caught up to speed", and her file is with her previous counsel. She also states that she advised her previous counsel on December 29, 2009 that she was unavailable for the hearing dates set.

5The Confirmation of Hearing states that requests for adjournments will be dealt with according to the Tribunal's "Information Bulletin: Scheduling of Hearings and Mediations, Rescheduling Requests, and Requests for Adjournments". The Information Bulletin provides that requests to reschedule must be made within five days of receiving the Confirmation of Hearing, and goes on to state the following regarding requests for adjournment:

Requests for adjournment, particularly last minute requests for adjournments are a significant impediment to fair and timely access to justice.

The Tribunal's approach to scheduling and rescheduling mediations and hearings is designed to give the parties a fair opportunity to find suitable dates. Therefore, the Tribunal discourages adjournment requests, and will only grant adjournments in extraordinary circumstances such as the illness of a party, witness or representative.

The Tribunal will not automatically grant adjournments even when all parties consent. Consent of all parties will be a factor which the Tribunal will consider where a request to adjourn a mediation or hearing is made, but it is not the only, or even the main factor.

Where a party seeks to adjourn a previously scheduled mediation or hearing, they must contact the Registrar as soon as the need arises. If practical, they should contact the other parties to seek their consent, and to discuss alternative dates for the rescheduling of the mediation or hearing. Alternative dates for mediation must fall within five (5) months of the date of the Notice of Application. Alternative dates for a hearing must fall within five (5) months of the date of the Confirmation of Hearing.

The party making the request should contact the Registrar and provide the reason for the request and the alternative agreed upon dates. Where the request is on short notice, the party must contact the Registrar by telephone or email.

6The request for an adjournment is denied. The personal respondent has known of the date of the hearing since December 2009. Although she states she advised her counsel in December that she was unavailable, no timely request for an adjournment was made on her behalf. Further, a change of counsel does not normally constitute the type of extraordinary circumstance warranting an adjournment of a hearing.

7The hearing will proceed as scheduled on May 4 and 5, 2010.