HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Ronald Scott

Applicant

-and-

Manulife Financial

Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Mary Truemner

Date: June 10, 2011

Citation: 2011 HRTO 1069

Indexed as: Scott v. Manulife Financial

ORAL SUBMISSIONS

Ronald Scott, Applicant ) David Hatton,

) Representative

Manulife Financial, Respondent ) Mary C. MacKenzie,

) Counsel

1This Application was filed pursuant to s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the "Code"), and alleges discrimination on the basis of disability in the area of goods, services and facilities.

2On the basis of the Application, it appears that the applicant disagrees with the manner in which the respondent is handling his insurance claim, and the respondent's denial of benefits to him, but the Application does not appear to allege or refer to evidence that the respondent denied him benefits because of his disability. The Tribunal therefore issued a Case Assessment Direction on February 17, 2011 directing that a Summary Hearing by teleconference be scheduled to assess whether the Application has a reasonable prospect of success.

3The Summary Hearing was held by teleconference on June 2, 2011. At the outset of the Summary Hearing, the applicant's representative informed the Tribunal and the respondent that the applicant would not be present because he was in the hospital. Within minutes, the applicant joined the conference call, stating that he was able to participate from the hospital briefly. Counsel for the respondent stated that the respondent had recently reinstated the applicant's benefits retroactively to February 1, 2011 on the basis of medical information recently provided to the respondent, implying that this information about the applicant's benefits, which had not been previously communicated to him given problems with his contact information, might influence the applicant's position. The applicant agreed that this information changed his intentions with respect to his Application, and requested that it be withdrawn. The respondent consented.

[4] The applicant's request to withdraw is granted with leave of the Tribunal.