Hutchison v. Ontario (Community and Social Services), 2010 HRTO 865

HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Melissa Hutchison

Applicant

-and-

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by the Minister of Community and Social Services, Disability Adjudication Unit

Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Ken Bhattacharjee

Date: April 20, 2010

Citation: 2010 HRTO 865

Indexed as: Hutchison v. Ontario (Community and Social Services)

1The applicant filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended, on May 29, 2009, the respondent filed a Response on July 30, 2009, and the applicant filed a Reply on August 28, 2009.

2On September 22, 2009, the Tribunal sent the parties a Notice of Mediation, which informed them that the Tribunal had scheduled a mediation of the Application for November 5, 2009.

3On October 28, 2009, the Tribunal notified the applicant’s counsel and the respondent’s counsel by email that the November 5 mediation was cancelled because of a lack of Tribunal resources, and offered to reschedule the mediation for December 21, 2009 or February 3, 2010.

4Between October 28, 2009 and January 31, 2010, the respondent’s counsel and a Tribunal staff person exchanged several emails, all copied to the applicant’s counsel, which discussed possible dates for rescheduling the mediation. The applicant’s counsel did not respond to any of the emails.

5On February 1, 2010, the applicant’s counsel telephoned a Tribunal staff person and advised that she was unable to contact the applicant for various reasons. The staff person sent the applicant’s counsel an email on the same day, which included a direction to the applicant’s counsel to contact the Registrar in writing when she decided how to proceed with the Application.

6On March 16, 2010, the Tribunal mailed and emailed the applicant and her counsel a letter, which stated:

The Tribunal has contacted you previously, consulting with you about new dates for mediation and the status of your application.

You must advise the Tribunal of your intentions with respect to this Application. If you wish the Application to be scheduled directly for a hearing, without a mediation, you must let us know. If you still wish to have a mediation scheduled, you must also let us know.

The Tribunal draws your attention to Rule 5.4 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure:

5.4 The Tribunal may finally determine an Application without further notice to any person who cannot be contacted by the Tribunal according to contact information provided to the Tribunal by that person.

If you do not respond within ten days of the date of this letter, the Tribunal will deem you to have abandoned the Application and close the file.

7To date, neither the applicant nor her legal counsel has contacted the Tribunal. In the circumstances, the applicant is deemed to have abandoned the Application. Accordingly, the Application is dismissed.